Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Crisp and chalky on the nose, this appellation blend offers aromas of grapefruit peel, white-fleshed fruits and a light touch of wood. The sip sizzle with acid, offering flavors of seared lime, brine and rounded white peach.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills was barrel fermented and aged 11 months in 16% new French oak. It has soft notions of baker's yeast, poached pears, perfumed white peaches and beeswax with a light to medium-bodied palate that's fresh, bright and gently yeasty with an uplifted finish.
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 superior source of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills is the coolest, westernmost sub-region of the larger Santa Ynez Valley appellation within Santa Barbara County. This relatively new AVA is unquestionably one to keep an eye on.
The climate of Sta. Rita Hills is a natural match for Chardonnay and Pinot noir, thanks to the crisp ocean breezes and well-drained, limestone-rich calcareous soil. Here, grapes ripen just enough, while retaining brisk acidity and harmonious balance.