Wine & Spirits - October 2020 - 44

YEAR'S BEST CALIFORNIA CHARDONNAYS
fully with smoked chicken and mushrooms.
-P.J.C. (368 cases) §
520950

93 | Alma Rosa

520944

90 | Lindquist

$28

2018 Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido
Vineyard Chardonnay (Best Buy) ^ Scents
of smoke, resin and vanilla-oak slip in alongside caramelized pear flavors in this 2018; it
seems youthful, still needing time to come
into its own. Let it rest in a decanter, then
serve with white sausages. -P.J.C. (175 cases) §

93 | The Hilt

90 | J. Wilkes

$25

2018 Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay
(Best Buy) ^ Scents of honeysuckle and jasmine are framed with a pleasingly sour lees
note. The wine is balanced and quiet, with
earthy contours and mild citrus tang; for
whitefish. -P.J.C. §
520931

89 | Cambria

$22

2018 Santa Maria Valley Katherine's
Vineyard Chardonnay (Best Buy) ^ A generous chardonnay that smells of benchland
warmth, this leads with aromas of nougat
and roasted nuts, opening to tropical fruit
flavors, with a hint of lemon. It's got the
brightness for savory dishes, like black cod.
-P.J.C. §

S TA . R I TA H I L L S
521394

94 | Sandhi

$45

2018 Sta. Rita Hills Sanford & Benedict
Vineyard Chardonnay ^ At once austere and
tender, this complex wine shows an array of
aromas and flavors that weave in and out
with air and time. At first go, it's lean and
green, legumes and white tea; then it develops lees and nutty sweet-corn accents after a
day, and succulent apple the day after that,
with a smoky salinity that would pair beauti44

WINE & SPIRITS

OCTOBER 2020

$45

2018 Sta. Rita Hills Estate Chardonnay ^
From the Jonata family's Sta. Rita Hills estate,
this wine feels anomalous from the get-go: Its
first aromas are tense and sharp, of clay dust
and lemon. But the flavors possess a melonlike breadth, like cantaloupe, giving the wine
luxurious depth, only to have it tighten up
with citrusy intensity, leaving a lasting mineral impression. -P.J.C. (1,500 cases) §
520961

93 | Liquid Farm

520941

$45

2018 Sta. Rita Hills El Jabali Vineyard
Chardonnay ^ From Rich Sanford's vineyard
just east of his iconic namesake vineyard, this
wine starts off nutty and a bit spicy, with a
beguiling scent of sun-ripened apples. It's
juicy and bright, with a grippy saline texture,
firm and crystalline; for clams on the halfshell. -P.J.C. (200 cases) §
520962

$74

2017 Sta. Rita Hills Four Chardonnay ^ A
selection of the four best barrels of the vintage, this 2017 is tightly wound and exceptionally savory, more about seashells than
fruit. It's all nuts and smoke when first
poured; then, with air, a haunting and complex citrus flavor emerges, half lemon blossom, half lemon curd, at once rich and brisk,
becoming light and mineral with more air.
For oysters. -P.J.C. (125 cases) §
520952

92 | Barden

$48

2018 Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay ^ You can
feel the coolness of the Sta. Rita Hills in this
wine, which starts out savory and very firm,
with a lemony tang. It's driven by a mineral
texture and tingly acids that keep the fleshy
fruit bright and tart straight through the
mouthwatering finish. -P.J.C. (362 cases) §
520953

92 | Barden

$54

2018 Sta. Rita Hills Sanford & Benedict
Vineyard Chardonnay ^ This marries a luxurious oak character with tense, cool aciddriven flavors. Given the pronounced caramelly scents, the pineapple flavors and
acidity come as a pleasant shock, broadbeam acids mixing with nutty lees for a wine
of substance and complexity. -P.J.C. (138
cases) §
520954

92 | Donnachadh

$42

2017 Sta. Rita Hills Estate Chardonnay ^
Donnachadh has 16 acres planted to multiple clones of chardonnay on a steep 40-acre
vineyard off Santa Rosa Road, just nine miles

from the ocean. The wine it grew in 2017 is
bright and exotic, with clean, crisp apple flavors and a flinty, smoky lees character marking the finish. It's low in alcohol, tense and
thrillingly austere; for oysters. -P.J.C. (215
cases) §
520956

92 | Fess Parker

$40

92 | Fess Parker

$40

92 | Liquid Farm

$42

91 | Au Bon Climat

$40

91 | Fess Parker

$40

2018 Sta. Rita Hills Ashley's Chardonnay ^
At once spicy and bright, this chardonnay
shows how well oak can complement the
chill, crisp Sta. Rita Hills fruit character. The
wine smells of lees and white flower petals,
of caramel and lime pith, the net effect tense,
citrusy, fulsome and layered. -P.J.C. (2,073
cases) §
520957
2018 Sta. Rita Hills Sanford & Benedict
Vineyard Chardonnay ^ Blair Fox, winemaker at Fess Parker, is never shy about his
oak regime, but in recent years, his wines
have become brighter and more expressive.
This 2018 is a case in point: With its subtle
minerality and limey freshness-lime pith
and juice and limestone dust-it's a tense
and graceful chardonnay. -P.J.C. (143 cases) §
520960
2018 Sta. Rita Hills White Hill Chardonnay ^ Liquid Farm's White Hill bottling is the
yin to the yang of its Golden Slope cuvée.
The leaner of the two, it's still luxurious,
with scents of hazelnuts and dried pineapple, lees and lemon. The flavors are delivered
with brisk clarity, the texture lean and finely
drawn. -P.J.C. (1,000 cases) §
520951
2017 Sta. Rita Hills Sanford & Benedict
Vineyard Chardonnay ^ Scents of baking
spices, vanillin, graham cracker and nutmeg
lie over lemony fruit in this complex chardonnay. The flavors are heavier, their goldenapple sweetness curtailed by tense acids and
a firm whack of sumptuous oak. All of this
suggests it has the stuffing to age; cellar for
at least two years. -P.J.C. (100 cases) §
520955
2018 Sta. Rita Hills Parker West Chardonnay ^ A wild wine, this is all salted nuts and
smoke in its aromas. The flavors are nutty
but totally on point, the lees a touch sour in
an intriguing way, and a salted lemon-orange
brightness highlighting the mouthwatering
acidity. -P.J.C. (436 cases) §

https://www.wine.com/product/lindquist-bien-nacido-vineyard-chardonnay-2018/625170 https://shop.millerfamilywines.com/product/2018-J--Wilkes-Chardonnay

Wine & Spirits - October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - October 2020