Winemaker Notes
Straw hue. Scents of melon, honey, grapefruit, and lemon custard leap out of the glass. With time, secondary notes of white peach, brioche, and kiwi make for a complex experience. Flavors stay true to the aroma profile along with some oak spice and vanilla notes. Plush texture with youthful liveliness flows into a dense and lengthy finish.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
Cool-toned and lithe, the 2022 Chardonnay Fogstone Vineyard fills the mouth with minerality and tart lemony acidity. Sweet corn, peach and yellow apple lift from the glass, followed up with a lick of creamy vanilla and salty river rock tones. A little bitterness on the finish lends intrigue. This rocky site sits at the northern end of the Santa Lucia Highlands, where the fog rolls in early and leaves late (hence the name), leading to long hang-time and gentle ripening.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2022 Chardonnay Fogstone Vineyard is bigger and richer, with a spicy oak and buttered citrus-driven nose that carries to a richly textured, layered, beautifully balanced profile on the palate. This Meursault-like beauty brings the fruit and is beautifully done.
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James Suckling
Aromas of pears, apple pie, pastry and spices. The palate is medium-bodied with vivid acidity and a creamy texture, giving notes of quince, lemon curd, orange blossoms and butter. Powerful, with an underlying mineral drive. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Generous and plump, with intense notes of peach preserves, marmalade, mango sorbet and orange blossoms. Candied ginger, wildflower honey and spiced baked apple flavors linger on the lush, juicy frame alongside a touch of salted caramel.
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.
Perhaps the most highly regarded appellation within Monterey County, Santa Lucia Highlands AVA benefits from a combination of warm morning sunshine and brisk afternoon breezes, allowing grapes to ripen slowly and fully. The result is concentrated, flavorful wines that retain their natural acidity. Wineries here do not shy away from innovation, and place a high priority on sustainable viticultural practices.
The climatic conditions here are perfectly suited to the production of ripe, rich Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. These Burgundian varieties dominate an overwhelming percentage of plantings, though growers have also found success with Syrah, Riesling and Pinot Gris.