The saying “great wine starts in the vineyard” holds plenty of truth, particularly when it comes to Chardonnay. The grape can be wonderfully transparent, with the imprint of the vineyard often as significant as the fingerprint of the winemaker’s choices.
What makes a great Chardonnay vineyard? Winemaker James Hall of Patz & Hall sums it up succinctly: “Well, all of the objective details: soil type, aspect, rootstock, clone and farming. Then there’s the intangibles that are more elusive—it has to be terroirdriven. I want my wines to make people search for adjectives.”
For this story, I focus on vineyards that sell grapes to multiple clients (versus estate vineyards, of which there are also plenty to celebrate). I took into account track records of scores from our blind tastings, and interviewed dozens of California Chardonnay winemakers and growers. Of course, there are many vineyards in the state that deliver quality. But the 11 profiled here are the vineyards every Chardonnay fan needs to know. Their names are often the smallest text on the wine label—Hyde, Hudson, Bien Nacido, Ritchie and so forth. But they have an outsized impact on the wine in the bottle.
All are family-run properties, most of them backed by generations of experience. Consider these vineyards stamps of approval for an excellent bottle of Chardonnay. If you’re looking at a wine list and don’t recognize the producers’ names, you can feel confident that wines with these vineyard designations are likely terrific.
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