Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2021 Chardonnay Rosemary's Vineyard is a classic Brian Talley wine. Rich and creamy, with notable texture, the Rosemary's is superb in 2021. There's a bit more oak here than in the other Chardonnays, but the wine has the depth to balance things out. Lemon confit, marzipan, white flowers and a kiss of new French oak build as this resonant, expressive Chardonnay shows off its considerable charms.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Stone fruits, subtle orange blossom, brioche, and honeyed mineral nuances all emerge from the 2021 Chardonnay Rosemary's Vineyard, a medium-bodied, clean, classically styled Chardonnay revealing bright yet integrated acidity, terrific balance, and a great finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
There’s a very strong chance that this wine, which remains in its infancy, could be a lights-out superstar with a few years of patience. Currently, aromas of sharp lemon peel cut through fatter tones of white peach and popcorn. The palate is biting with acidity and tart citrus flavors that need time to mellow.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2021 Talley Vineyards Rosemary's Chardonnay is fresh and bright as well as complex and encompassing. TASTING NOTES: This wine shines with aromas and flavors of ripe apples with hints of creaminess and oaky notes. Enjoy its crisp finish with steamed Dungeness crab tossed in egg noodles. (Tasted: February 17, 2023, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine & Spirits
Crisp as a chilled apple, this chardonnay is silky and bright, with a hint of lees and lactic notes; the flavor is as lean as a Mâconnais chardonnay, with a firm finish for prawns.
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.
One of the coolest growing areas in California, the Arroyo Grande Valley runs from the southwest to the northeast, just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean and is part of the Central Coast AVA. Situated so that cold Pacific Ocean air and fog is allowed to filter into the valley, Arroyo Grande also has an incredibly long growing season. Bud break occurs in February in most years with flowering in May and harvest in late September; the area is classified as cool Mediterranean.
These weather factors combined with the soil types—continental and marine rocks, greywacke, limestone, shale and volcanic—create wines with great concentration and fresh acidity. The cooler end of the valley is perfect for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and is a good producer of sparkling wines. The warmer, more inland part of the valley is home to some of California’s oldest Zinfandel vines.