Wine & Spirits - October 2021 - 49

Year's Best US Chardonnay
from the Woods family. And it feels like an
old vine, old clone, old soul of a chardonnay,
its broad structure framed by nutty,
caramelly oak accents while enlivened with
apple and citrus flavors and a racy core of
lemony acids. Flashy and yet controlled, the
finish is lithe and flavorful at once. -P.J.C.
(245 cases) §
94 | Scar of the Sea
$46
2019 Santa Maria Valley Block I Bien Nacido
Vineyard Chardonnay ^ Mikey Giugni
draws from older plantings for this stylish
chardonnay. Redolent of pineapple and
golden fruits when first poured, the aromas
are nutty and rich, as is the attack on the palate.
But the wine's texture feels cinched up
like a drawstring, bound by fine, penetrating
acids, with just a whiff of caramel on the finish.
Layered and delicious. -P.J.C. §
93 | Clendenen Family
$50
2017 Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido
Vineyard Chardonnay ^ This cuvée, a special
selection aged in 350L FranÇois Frères
barrels, a one of a kind chardonnay from
the late Jim Clendenen. Its lemon curd and
pineapple flavors are girded by a sturdy oak
frame, firm with plenty of leesy grip. This
shows dramatic tension and freshness for a
four-year-old wine, fine and focused, the lemony
accents firmed up by a salty tang and
majestic oak elements. For the cellar. -P.J.C. §
93 | Lindquist Family
$30
2019 Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido
Vineyard Chardonnay ^ Firm, muscular, this
exhibits plenty of warmth for such a cool climate
vineyard, with its nutty lees note and
lemon-spritzed pineapple flavors, firm oak,
a hint of roasted nuts and lanolin to enrich
the texture. Despite its amplitude, it's wellbalanced,
with a bright finish that calls for a
pork chop. -P.J.C. §
93 | Scar of the Sea
$28
2019 Santa Maria Valley Vino de los Ranchos
Chardonnay ^ This old-vine blend from
Rancho Sisquoc, Rancho Viñedos and Bien
Nacido vineyards is cool and lean when first
poured, with a tang of orange zest and caramel.
You can sense the layering in its complex
aromatics, the wine marked by fine, angular
acidity and a mild but firm phenolic grip. It
would pair nicely with a white fish dish, like
miso cod. -P.J.C. §
92 | Au Bon Climat
$40
2018 Santa Maria Valley Runway Vineyard
Chardonnay ^ From a hilltop vineyard with a
view of the ocean, this chardonnay is smoky
and firm, its lean apple flavors framed by caramel
scents of oak. It's a study in contrasts,
stalwart in its oak underpinnings, full of juicy
energy within, a firm, broad, balanced wine
that will age beautifully. -P.J.C. §
92 | Chanin
$45
2019 Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido
Vineyard Chardonnay ^ Chanin's Bien Nacido
bottling is tense, terse, and lean, with
scents of mixed nuts and lemon, and a texture
that feels tangy and balanced. It's a long
way from peak expression, destined for the
cellar. -P.J.C. (214 cases) §
92 | Fess Parker
$44
2019 Santa Maria Valley Sierra Madre
Vineyard Chardonnay ^ This starts out
nutty and rich when first poured, with a
fleshy weight that's hard to resist. The flavors
fall toward caramelized apple and pear,
and despite the richness, the wine's texture
keeps it focused and very long, driven by lavish
oak flavors. -P.J.C. §
91 | Foxen
$40
2019 Santa Maria Valley Tinaquaic Vineyard
Chardonnay ^ Rich and heady, this
wine's pineapple and lemon scents have
a dusty, leesy frame while the flavors are
broader, with more apple and pear. From a
benchland vineyard planting in 1989, it's got
old-vine appeal. -P.J.C. (700 cases) §
91 | Optik
92 | J. Wilkes
$40
$25
2019 Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay (BEST
BUY) ^ This benchland wine highlights the
foggy coolness of Santa Maria's transverse
valley, with its citrusy, mildly nutty nose and
lemon-lime flavors, fresh and linear, crackling
with bright acidity. It's a seafood wine
to pour with Dungeness crab cakes. -P.J.C.
(2,000 cases) §
92 | Rancho Viñedo
$46
2017 Santa Maria Valley Doña Martina
Chardonnay ^ Rancho Viñedo is offering
this wine as part of a vertical collection with
the 2018 and '16 (both recommended here).
All three wines draw from the same old-vine,
own-rooted Wente and Martini selections.
This 2017 is old school in every way: in its
smoky, developed lees notes, its mildly tropical
fruit flavors from white peach to mango,
and especially in its dusty texture, broad and
firmly planted, allowing for uncanny length
and persistence. -P.J.C. (245 cases) §
2019 Santa Maria Valley Block 11 Bien
Nacido Vineyard Chardonnay ^ Optik is a
new collaboration between Bien Nacido's
Miller family and winemaker Joey Tensley.
The wine is comfortable and stylish, leading
with scents of lemon curd and toasted
lees, with a hint of smoke and butterscotch.
It's a pillowy chardonnay, full of flavor, its
cushioned texture marked with firm tannins.
-P.J.C. (112 cases) §
91 | Rancho Viñedo
$46
2016 Santa Maria Valley Doña Martina
Chardonnay ^ The oldest offering in the current
vertical collection from Rancho Viñedo,
this is showing some bottle age: the fruit has
receded slightly into secondary flavors. Still,
this 2016 offers fascinating components:
nutty, milky, caramel scents and sandy flavors
of pineapple and sea air. It's ready to
decant for pork loin. -P.J.C. (245 cases) §
91 | Rusack
$40
2018 Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido
Vineyard Chardonnay ^ This leads with cool
pear and apple flavors, and a whiff of lees to
frame the fruit. The structure seems to come
Oc TO b ER 2021
WINE & SPIR IT S
49
91 | Au Bon Climat
$35
2018 Santa Maria Valley Bien Nacido Vineyard
Chardonnay ^ This chardonnay eludes
early interpretation, shrouded in oak and
reductive lees scents, golden and vague in
its smoke and caramel accents. That caramel
essence gets channeled through tense green
apple and lemon notes. Recommended for
the cellar, the wine is years from peak expression.
-P.J.C. §
https://www.foxenvineyard.com/wine/current-releases http://www.jwilkes.com
Wine & Spirits - October 2021

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