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Pre-Arrival
Racines Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills 2018
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle:
$51.91
Broad but precise in texture, this exudes green and yellow fruits interspersed with salted caramel and fennel. Justin...
Pre-Arrival
Sandhi Chardonnay Bentrock 2012
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$102.39
The 2012 Chardonnay Bent Rock Sta. Rita Hills is a stunning effort that has fantastic tension and focus in its...
Pre-Arrival
Sandhi Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict 2012
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$77.44
Also from the Sta. Rita Hills, and from a vineyard that continues to impress, the 2012 Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict...
Pre-Arrival
Sandhi Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict 2013
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$82.38
The grapes for this wine are from the original 1971 plantings at Sanford & Benedict. Having access to the 41 year-old...
Pre-Arrival
The Hilt Chardonnay Bentrock Vineyard 2018
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$101.56
Spiced orchard fruits, dried pineapple, toasted bread, and beautiful spicy nuances emerge from the 2018 Chardonnay...
Pre-Arrival
The Hilt Chardonnay Bentrock Vineyard 2019
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$126.91
This is a fantastic chardonnay with sliced green-apple, cooked-apple, nougat and slate aromas. Some dried chili, too....
Pre-Arrival
The Hilt Chardonnay Estate 2019
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$67.76
This has lots of verve and brightness, with sliced green apple and pear, as well as matchstick. It’s medium-bodied...
Pre-Arrival
The Hilt Chardonnay Radian Vineyard 2019
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle:
$128.48
The light gold-hued 2019 Chardonnay Radian Vineyard boasts an exotic, complex bouquet of pear and ripe orchard fruits...
Pre-Arrival
Tyler Chardonnay La Rinconada Vineyard 2018
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle:
$82.38
The 2018 Chardonnay La Rinconada Vineyard opens with crushed almonds and flint that segue to white peaches, allspice...
Pre-Arrival
Tyler Chardonnay Santa Barbara County 2014
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle:
$45.47
The 2014 Chardonnay (Santa Barbara County) is a super-polished appellation-level Chardonnay. Pear, white flowers and...
Chardonnay United States California Santa Barbara
Of all the white wine grape varietals, surely the one which has spread the furthest and is most widely appreciated is the Chardonnay. This green skinned grape is now grown all over the Old and New Worlds, from New Zealand to the Americas, from England to Chile, and is one of the first varietals people think of when considering white wine grapes. Perhaps this is because of its huge popularity which reached a peak in the 1990s, thanks to new technologies combining with traditional methods to bring the very best features out of the Chardonnay grape, and allow its unique qualities to shine through. Most fine Chardonnay wines use a process known as malolactic fermentation, wherein the malic acids in the grape juice are converted to lactic acids, allowing a creamier, buttery nature to come forward in the wine. No grape varietal is better suited to this process than Chardonnay, which manages to balance these silky, creamy notes with fresh white fruit flavors beautifully.
Of all the New World wine countries, perhaps the one which has demonstrated the most flair for producing high quality wines - using a combination of traditional and forward-thinking contemporary methods - has been the United States of America. For the past couple of centuries, the United States has set about transforming much of its suitable land into vast vineyards, capable of supporting a wide variety of world-class grape varietals which thrive on both the Atlantic and the Pacific coastlines. Of course, we immediately think of sun-drenched California in regards to American wines, with its enormous vineyards responsible for the New World's finest examples of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot based wines, but many other states have taken to viticulture in a big way, with impressive results. Oregon, Washington State and New York have all developed sophisticated and technologically advanced wine cultures of their own, and the output of U.S wineries is increasing each year as more and more people are converted to their produce.
California as a wine producing region has grown in size and importance considerably over the past couple of centuries, and today is the proud producer of more than ninety percent of the United States' wines. Indeed, if California was a country, it would be the fourth largest producer of wine in the world, with a vast range of vineyards covering almost half a million acres. The secret to California's success as a wine region has a lot to do with the high quality of its soils, and the fact that it has an extensive Pacific coastline which perfectly tempers the blazing sunshine it experiences all year round. The winds coming off the ocean cool the vines, and the natural valleys and mountainsides which make up most of the state's wine regions make for ideal areas in which to cultivate a variety of high quality grapes.
Santa Barbara is home to many of California's most sought after wines, with a powerful reputation for superbly crafted, old world style big, flavorful and complex red wines. The white wine industry in the region is growing, too, with many wineries within Santa Barbara successfully experimenting with several classic white wine grape varietals. As in much of California, Santa Barbara benefits from the blazing west coast sunshine, coupled with cooling Pacific Ocean breezes and fogs, which help to temper the grapes and slow the ripening process, thus ensuring more flavor and aroma in the resulting wines. Although Santa Barbara is a relatively young wine region, it is home to many wineries who are extremely dedicated when it comes to demonstrating just how good their terroir is, and how characterful their region's wines can be.