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White
750ml
Bottle: $45.94
12 bottles: $45.02
The 2019 Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains Alesia comes from a blend of sites in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It has a...
12 FREE
JD
92
VM
91
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $32.90 $34.20
12 bottles: $31.35
Rich and complex, with notes of salted hazelnut, fresh lemon curd, tangerine and Honeycrisp apple, showing a...
WS
92
White
750ml
Bottle: $47.93
12 bottles: $46.97
AROMA : Key lime, lemongrass, graham cracker. FLAVOR : Lemon bar, white tea, saline.
12 FREE
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $58.94 $63.00
12 bottles: $58.71
Powerfully ripe yet racy and thrilling with acidity, this deeply concentrated Chardonnay exhibits a masterful balance...
12 FREE
DC
95
WS
93
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $21.49 $24.00
Complex and distinctive, with pear, nectarine and Honeycrisp apple flavors, salted melon accents and a savory note of...
WS
90
White
750ml
Bottle: $45.94
12 bottles: $45.02
The 2021 Chardonnay (Santa Cruz Mountains) is a gorgeous appellation level wine, and also a wine that will drink well...
12 FREE
VM
92
White
750ml
Bottle: $24.00
12 bottles: $23.52
Straw color. Aromas of citrus blossom, green apple, yuzu, and sea spray are supported by flavors of quince, pear...
12 FREE
White
750ml
Bottle: $39.94
12 bottles: $39.14
12 FREE
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
White
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $98.15
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
White
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $69.62
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
White
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $76.06
The 2017 Chardonnay Estate is beautifully expressed this vintage, scented of warm citrus, honeycomb and a singular...
WA
95
VM
94
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
White
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $147.20
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
White
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $135.78
A true gem, the 2013 Chardonnay Monte Bello, which was barrel fermented and aged 17 months in mostly American oak,...
WA
95
WS
92

Chardonnay United States California Santa Cruz County

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.