Winemaker Notes
The 2016 Coastview Vineyard Chardonnay is very aromatic with a cornucopia of white stone fruits, palm fruit, citrus with marzipan, crushed rocks and hints of reduction which bring to mind classic top end white burgundy. It is mouth filling with a beautiful balance of acidity and tannins which carries the finish long. Each of the notes perceived on the nose carries through to the palate. With each successive year, they are fine tuning how they make this wine as they strive to be more transparent to the vineyard to really let it sing. They feel this is probably our best effort to find its way to your glass so far.
Pair this wine with seafood, white meats with citrus glazes, or simply enjoyed on a nice afternoon.
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesLime skins, grapefruit, ash, lily, chives and dairy aromas make for a unique and dynamic entry to the nose of this bottling from a vineyard high in the mountains near Chalone. There's a grainy tightness to the palate, where Meyer lemon pith, almond oil and herbal elements battle for attention.
The light gold-colored 2016 Coastview Chardonnay, from a site in Monterey County, spent 12 months in neutral barrels followed by 7 months in stainless steel. It has a smoking bouquet of lemon curd, toasted spices, white flowers, and honeyed pineapple, with just a hint of brioche and toastiness. It’s clean, vibrant, and pure, with a touch of Aubert-like aromas and flavors yet more focus and precision, although less oomph. Drink it over the coming decade.
Located in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Big Basin Vineyards is terraced into a steep hillside first planted to grape vines by French immigrants over 100 years ago. Their winery and the vineyards they work with are located at sites in the Santa Cruz and Gabilan Mountains that are as beautiful as they are exceptional for grape growing. They farm organically and practice minimal-intervention winemaking with the goal of producing wines that transparently and authentically express site and variety.
Big Basin believes that their choice of vineyards, picking at the right time to retain intensity and elegance, and minimalistic winemaking practices are the keys to producing more aromatic and ethereal wines - new world wines with old world soul. Owner and winemaker Bradley Brown has been on a 20 year quest to produce beautiful and soulful wines. Winemaker Blake Yarger joined the team in 2017 and together they are always fine tuning practices to more transparently express the vineyards.
At elevations reaching well over 2,000 feet, the Mt. Harlan AVA in the Gabilan Range is an anomaly among its surrounding Central Coast appellations. Recognizing the splendor of the area and its ideal limestone-rich soils, Josh Jensen chose Mt. Harlan as the home of his Calera Wine Company in the 1970s. Awarded his own AVA in 1990, Calera is the only commercial winery in the appellation.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.