Marchelle Bien Nacido Chardonnay 2021

Alcohol: 13.5 %

Grape(s): Chardonnay

Location: Bien Nacido Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley, Santa Barbara County, California, USA

Tasting Notes: Cool-climate Santa Maria Chardonnay from one of California's most storied vineyards — white peach, lemon curd and grilled hazelnut over saline, chalky minerality, with gentle oak framing a long, windswept finish.

Notes: Sourced from the old Wente-clone blocks of Bien Nacido Vineyard, planted in the 1970s; barrel fermented with restrained new oak.

Food Pairing: Grilled halibut, roast chicken, Dungeness crab.

Winery Story: Bien Nacido Vineyard, planted in 1973 in the fog-cooled east-west transverse valley of Santa Maria, is one of California's benchmark Chardonnay sites; Marchelle is winemaker Evan Damiano's label.