2020 Bentrock Chardonnay
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Tasting notes
This Chardonnay hails from the slightly warmer Bentrock single vineyard in Santa Rita Hills, where the pure diatomaceous earth the vines are grown on absorbs the heat from the day and extracts it to the vines at night helping to ripen the grapes. This gives the wine a lovely pure apricot fruit flavour. It is very juicy, mouth-watering even, and the texture is wonderfully creamy. The leesy, silky textural quality layers the palate adding density and weight. There is a lovely tension running through the wine and vibrant acidity as well as a long finish. Superb.
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Average Score
James Suckling
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Plenty of lightly salted caramel with tarte tatin and apple crumble, but ever so subtle. Dried flowers. Delicate toffee. Full-bodied with an intensity of fruit and caramel, along with some crushed stone at the same time. Tangy aftertaste. Drink or hold.
The 2020 Chardonnay Bentrock Vineyard has even more minerality, with a vivid oyster shell-like marine quality as well as orchard fruits, musky melon and pear, medium body, gorgeous mid-palate depth, and a long, seamless finish that keeps you coming back to the glass. This is pure Sta. Rita Hills magic and can be enjoyed any time over the coming 10-15 years if properly stored.
The 2020 Chardonnay Bentrock has a bit more breadth than the Radian tasted alongside it. Pear, baked apple, spice, white flowers and a touch of oak lend volume as well as textural resonance. There's real depth and creaminess, along with a good bit of energy.
About the producer
The Hilt is the Santa Rita Hills project owned by sports and property mogul billionaire Stan Kroenke, who also owns Screaming Eagle in Napa Valley and the Jonata estate in the California’s Ballard Canyon AVA.