Winemaker Notes
Pair this wine with lemony risotto with asparagus or Elizabeth's avocado toast.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
An unctuous and delicious Chardonnay blended across six of the estate vineyards, but the preponderance of which comes from the top sites, Oliver's and Rosemary's. Airy and bright on the nose with ocean air and lemon verbena. The palate shows sweet, intense Meyer lemon pulp, salted lemon wedge and a brilliant finish of lemon verbena and sea salt.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Chardonnay Estate shows a richer side of the Talley Chardonnay program yet maintains the purity and focus displayed throughout the range. It opens with caramelized and honeyed aromas, an orchard-fruited core and an energizing waft of saline energy. The palate fuses ample textural power with clear-cut vibrancy, qualities that carry through the layered, floral finish.
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Vinous
A blend of from Rincon, Rosemary's and Oliver's, the 2023 Chardonnay Estate Grown (San Luis Opisbo Coast) is bright and fleet-footed. Soft in texture yet energetic, it delivers notes of yellow plum, chamomile and mint with a light touch. This is a fine introduction to the range.
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Wine Spectator
Pear, apple and lemon flavors are precise and sleek in this version, with hints of ginger, lemon balm and lemon basil. Green tea and lemon blossom notes add an appealing element on the 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.
The largest and perhaps most varied of California’s wine-growing regions, the Central Coast produces a good majority of the state's wine. This vast California wine district stretches from San Francisco all the way to Santa Barbara along the coast, and reaches inland nearly all the way to the Central Valley.
Encompassing an extremely diverse array of climates, soil types and wine styles, it contains many smaller sub-AVAs, including San Francisco Bay, Monterey, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley.
While the Central Coast California wine region could probably support almost any major grape varietiy, it is famous for a few Central Coast reds and whites. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel are among the major ones. The Central Coast is home to many of the state's small, artisanal wineries crafting unique, high-quality wines, as well as larger producers also making exceptional wines.