2022 Top Cream

This vintage’s signature comes from the amazing Block L at the Bien Nacido Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley. The vines are 55 Years Old! Someone should give the owners, the Miller Family, a trophy for nurturing and honoring this phenomenal vineyard for so long. The wines that come from these vines are truly magical, interlaced with depth, transparency and minerality.  European lines meet California richness from fruit that was born to be barrel fermented in a Burgundian style.

The soil is an almost creamy-looking white sand, and was no doubt something akin to ocean sea bed eons ago. It’s the kind of soil that I have seen make stunning Chardonnay over the years in the Sta. Rita Hills. From the perspective of the vineyard, it’s that layer of creamy sand that I call the Top Cream. It may not be from my soil, but Top Cream lives!