2021 Estate Chardonnay
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Tasting notes
Winemaker Matt Dees loves to call his Santa Barbara Chardonnays “refrigerated sunshine”, after the cool sea breezes felt in the sunny Santa Rita Hills AVA. It certainly sums up this wine. The Estate Chardonnay is predominantly produced from their single-vineyard plots, Radian and Bentrock. It has a lovely freshness, electric-like acidity alongside ripe mandarin fruit and a zest-lime hit. The wine has great energy and a vibrant mouth-watering salinity on the finish. This wine offers fantastic quality for the money and is as racy as Californian Chardonnay gets.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2021 Chardonnay Estate Monte Bello Vineyard was aged in 60% American and 40% French oak for 15 months. The nose is spry and lively, with matchstick, lemon curd and white flower aromas. The palate combines a polished richness with refreshing zest, concluding with a clean finish and decent length. This is a floral and vibrant introductory expression of the Monte Bello site.
One of the finest Chardonnay coming out of California is consistently the estate release from Ridge. Their 2021 Chardonnay Estate offers a gorgeous nose of crushed citrus, flower oil, flinty minerality, toasted nuts, and white flowers, with perfectly integrated background oak. It tastes like a Grand Cru white Burgundy with its minerality, vibrant acidity, yet balancing extract and concentration. It's easily the finest vintage of this I've tasted, and readers should jump on bottles. It will have 15-20 years of overall longevity.
Aromas of pie crust dough, lightly cooked apple and white peach. Dried flower. Flinty. Mineral. Medium-bodied with creamy texture and citrusy at the end. Drink now.
About the producer
Best known for its iconic Monte Bello, Ridge Vineyards makes some of California’s finest wines – particularly Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. Long a pioneer of sustainable farming and minimal-intervention winemaking, Ridge makes an extensive range from Sonoma County and the Santa Cruz Mountains.