Winemaker Notes
The 2016 Bien Nacido Vineyard Chardonnay is our Ode to California with rich texture, lemon and lime, hints of caramel, ripe pear, guava, citrus blossom, almonds & a finish that never ends. This wine was picked and sorted from a very special block high on a hillside and tucked back up a canyon at Bien Nacido Vineyards. It is barrel fermented and aged on lees for 16 months.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Chardonnay Bien Nacido Block 11 opens with wonderfully pure aromas of Golden Delicious apple, yellow pear, white peach and apricot with notions of crushed stone, lime peel, quince, honeysuckle, toast and soft clover honey accents. Medium-bodied, the palate gives up savory fruits and a wicked line of rocky minerality, with a lovely rounded texture, tangy acidity and a long, energetic 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 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.