Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This is our largest volume and arguably most important wine because it has wide distribution," Rajat Parr and Sashi Moorman commented on this wine. "This comes from top vineyards, and it's becoming harder to keep getting those grapes." The 2017 Chardonnay Santa Barbara County has a very pretty nose of chamomile, honey oat, orange blossoms, honeycomb, pie crust, baked Golden Delicious apples, exotic spices and quince. Light to medium-bodied, it offers intense savory layers, good freshness and a long, textured finish. 1,123 cases were made.
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Wine Enthusiast
Intriguing and exotic lime and green-plum aromas meet with white flowers and wet stone on the nose of this countywide blend. There’s a bright sizzle of acidity to the sip, where sharp and fresh flavors of citrus pith and river stone converge.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
A lesser-known but elite AVA within the larger Santa Barbara district, the Santa Maria Valley AVA runs precisely west to east starting near the coast. The valley funnels cool, Pacific Ocean air to the vineyards more inland, allowing grapes a longer hang time to ripen evenly and achieve their full potential by harvest time. Combined with minimal rainfall, consistent warm sunshine, and well-drained soils, it is an ideal environment for grape growing.
Many of the wineries here are small and highly respected, having established a reputation in the 1970s and 80s for producing excellent Central Coast wines like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. More recently, Syrah has also proven quite successful in the region. Many vineyards are owned by growers who sell their grapes to other wineries, so it is common to see the same vineyard name on bottlings from different wineries. Bien Nacido Vineyard is perhaps the best-known and most prestigious.