The amount of Chardonnay available is boggling – so easy to find and sip that it remains one of the most popular wines the world over. But if the wine’s common appeal has made some aficionados distance themselves, they need only look for the Talbott label. Two bottles in particular will rekindle appreciation for the heady heights Chardonnay is capable of in the right hands – and right terroir.
The instinctive hands are those of Talbott winemaker Kamee Knutson. The plot of land is one particular block of the winery’s Sleepy Hollow Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands. In combination, the two produced the 2021 Block 4 North Chardonnay, a gorgeous vintage that rested 15 months in French oak. Rich and creamy even on the nose, the wine caresses your palate with sensations of butterscotch and plucked flowers, with hints of almond and vanilla that sing a lullaby to the brighter notes of stonefruit and pineapple.
But there’s another option, the 2021 Fidelity Chardonnay, sourced from a single row of block four and put to such scrutiny that only three vintages have been allowed by the winemaker. It’s a stunning wine that basks openly in its decadence, beckoning you with promises of creamy lemon custard, pastry scented with vanilla, caramel and curing pineapple. All the while, the crisp peach and citrus glitters.
Both stand apart from the Chardonnay crowd. Yet the Fidelity is rare, limited to just two barrels and available for sale only to Talbott wine club members.