Peach pit, wild daisies, fresh tangerine. White grapefruit, Greek yogurt, ripe Asian pear. Persistent waves of fresh and explosive fruit radiate layers of Meyer lemon, green apple, and apricot that ebb and flow with driving intensity and pleasant youthful tartness. Hints of honeysuckle and dried hay surface to provide wrinkles of subtle floral and natural complexity balanced by cheese rind and a series of lightly leesy notes. Impressions of sandy earth and marine salinity round out the attack with terroir expressive and finely textured minerality unruffled by a thread of well integrated oak. Impressively tense yet weightless on the palate presented with excellent crispness and crunch; exhibiting surprisingly delicate power that comes across as simultaneously concentrated yet dainty and bright. Medium in body and carried by a backbone of lively acidity. This 2018 Viszlay Vineyard Chardonnay by Vokel Cellars is a delightfully pretty and pure-fruited white from the Sonoma Coast.

While California's Sonoma Coast produces a great deal of high quality wine from a range of different grape varieties, Chardonnay remains unquestionably the most widely planted and successful white wine grape in the region. This bottling, crafted by Vokel Cellars using Chardonnay sourced from the Viszlay Vineyard just southeast of Healdsburg, is an excellent example of Chardonnay's ability to thrive in this sunny yet marine-influenced region. This wine generously erupts from the glass with a plethora of delicately powerful yet deliciously tart fruit enhanced by subtle leesy tones and clean salinity. While it did undergo barrel fermentation and aging this wine's purity of fruit is what sings loudest, and oak influence remains only a small part of the overall picture. This is a well balanced and delicious creation from a wonderful Sonoma micro-producer.