Sandhi Chardonnay 2012

The entry level effort, and a fine one at that, Sandhi's 2012 Chardonnay Santa Barbara County is the estate's largest production release, with anywhere from 5,000-6,000 cases produced. Coming mostly from old vines and vineyards spread throughout Santa Barbara County, it's always barrel-fermented and then aged 8 months in barrel before being moved to tank prior to bottling. It's a classic Chardonnay that offers notions of stone fruits, spice, white flowers and tinges of brioche to go with a medium-bodied, juicy, lively and clean profile on the palate. I love the purity here, and this is an excellent value that will shine for 2-3 years, if not longer. Score - 90. (Jeb Dunnuck, erobertparker.com, Aug. 2014)