2016 Estate Chardonnay - Presqu’ile Winery

Lemon curd, powdered cinnamon, browned apple slice. Grilled pineapple, fresh lavender, toasted golden pear. Crushed clove and vanilla bean, fragrant jasmine and honeysuckle. Warm citrus, peach, and plantain lead a bright and expressive fruit-driven bouquet generously seasoned with nutmeg and soft baking spices. A hint of perfumed florals emerges but eventually gives way to pure and clean ocean air. Friendly and inviting on the nose yet tense, tart, and energetic on the palate, containing a beautiful undercurrent of salinity and sandy minerality that keeps the sizable fruit at bay. Medium plus in body with acidity to match; simultaneous round and ripe while remaining thoroughly crisp and crunchy. This 2016 Estate Chardonnay by Presqu'ile Winery is a complex, edgy, and delicious white from the Santa Maria Valley.

Santa Barbara County has proven to be an ideal region for producing high quality Chardonnay. This bottling, crafted by Presqu'ile Winery using Chardonnay sourced from their estate vineyard in Santa Barbara's Santa Maria Valley, exhibits exactly the kind of unique character that is only possible in this cool coastal growing zone. This wine walks the line between opulence and restraint, exhibiting both softness and immense tension within its extremely deep and flavorful profile. It is relatively broad shouldered and bold yet still expresses a sense of lean balance that keeps things remarkably fresh and juicy. This classic Chardonnay is still quite young and would make an ideal candidate for a few years of cellaring, but is an absolute pleasure to experience now.