White

Chardonnay

Santa Barbara County · Central Coast · United States

Fact sheet

roast chicken · grilled fish · salads with citrus fruits

201491 pts

Warm touches of lemon-laced chamomile tea, soft butter and a dollop of orange sherbert show on the nose of this intriguing and unique wine from the Sierra Madre Vineyard. There's a strong sense of baking soda-like alkalinity to the palate, laced through juicy lemon and tangerine…
201389 pts

John and Helen Falcone use Sierra Madre Vineyard fruit from the Santa Maria Valley for this wine, which offers straight-ahead aromas of sweet apple, oak and pineapple. A chalkiness emerges on the palate, with pear flesh providing fruit and red grapefruit pith providing a nicely…
201191 pts

This shows the impressive acidity and spice flavor that this cool part of Santa Barbara County coaxes out of its wines. With a touch of new oak, it provides balanced flavors of pineapple, lime, green apple, buttered toast, vanilla, crème brûlée and honeysuckle.
201087 pts

Good and easy to like, but too oaky by half, with smoky char flavors dominating. Underneath that is a crisply dry, minerally Chardonnay, with fine orange and Meyer lemon flavors. It would be nice to try this as an unoaked wine.
200990 pts

Falcone wisely reins in the fruity richness and oak on this wine, allowing acidity and citrus flavors to star. That is a nod to Santa Barbara's cool-climate terroir, not winemaker interference. The wine is dry, crisp and minerally, with subtle lime, Meyer lemon and Asian pear fl…