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Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $60.84 $67.60
12 bottles: $49.40
Belle Glos Chardonnay from Glasir Holt vineyard boasts a refreshing acidity and a rich mouthfeel with flavors of...
12 FREE
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $39.24 $43.60
6 bottles: $37.60
This elegant white wine exhibits aromas of lemon, kiwi, orange blossom, and sweet basil. Jasmine, lime, ginger and...
Rapid Ship
White
750ml
Bottle: $51.94
Enticing aromas of buttercream, cake batter and macadamia nut are clean and light on the nose of this bottling. The...
12 FREE
WE
94
VM
91
Rapid Ship
White
750ml
Bottle: $32.94
12 bottles: $32.28
12 FREE
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $32.90 $35.60
Named after Fess' daughter, Ashley, this chardonnay represents the best of the acclaimed Sta. Rita Hills growing...
White
750ml
Bottle: $56.40
12 bottles: $55.27
Plump, showcasing peaches in syrup, apricot pastry, spices and dried ginger, with nutmeg grace notes, firm acidity...
12 FREE
WS
88
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $38.94 $41.20
12 bottles: $38.16
This wine has great tension, mouthfeel, and focus. Notes of lemon, oyster-shell, and river rocks on both the nose and...
12 FREE
White
750ml
Bottle: $24.40
12 bottles: $22.04
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $35.64 $39.60
6 bottles: $25.47
Vibrant aromatics of crisp green apple tart with hints of lemon meringue. The RLH Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay is soft...
Rapid Ship
White
750ml
Bottle: $26.93
12 bottles: $26.39
Tasted at the beginning of 2023, a reductive quality was still obscuring bright, penetrating green apple and kiwi...
DC
95
JS
94
White
1.5Ltr
Bottle: $79.80
6 bottles: $69.60
Crisp and chalky on the nose, this appellation blend offers aromas of grapefruit peel, white-fleshed fruits and a...
WE
93
WA
91
White
375ml
Bottle: $19.94
12 bottles: $19.54
Crisp and chalky on the nose, this appellation blend offers aromas of grapefruit peel, white-fleshed fruits and a...
WE
93
WA
91
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $34.04 $38.00
12 bottles: $30.40
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $43.94 $45.60
12 bottles: $43.06
Vibrant, toasty, and reserved. Fresh pineapple. Lemon curd with powdered sugar lift. Lithe and graceful. Exotic and...
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White
750ml
Bottle: $59.94
12 bottles: $58.74
Aged ten months in neutral oak barrels, this is a leaner, dry Chardonnay with crisp acidity and a citrus core....
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White
750ml
Bottle: $21.93
12 bottles: $21.49
Aromas of sliced apple, pear, melon, lemon pie and salted butter. Medium-to full-bodied, ripe and fruity with a...
WE
90
JS
90
White
750ml
Bottle: $60.00
The 2021 Chardonnay (Sta. Rita Hills) is a new wine, all from the Mae estate. A gorgeous wine, the 2021 is creamy,...
12 FREE
VM
91
White
750ml
Bottle: $51.93
The 2021 Chardonnay La Rinconada Vineyard is a bright, steely wine. Crushed rocks, mint, white pepper, citrus peel...
12 FREE
VM
94
White
750ml
Bottle: $63.94
The 2021 Chardonnay La Rinconada Vineyard is a bright, steely wine. Crushed rocks, mint, white pepper, citrus peel...
12 FREE
VM
94
White
750ml
Bottle: $71.94
The 2021 Chardonnay Sanford & Benedict Vineyard is a soft, easygoing wine. There's lovely upfront richness in the...
12 FREE
VM
90

Chardonnay United States California Santa Barbara Santa Rita Hills

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.