Log in / Sign up Sandhi Central Coast Chardonnay 2019
Sandhi is a small-production California winery focusing on select vineyards from the Sta. Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County. Sandhi was founded in 2010 by Rajat Parr, the wine director for Michael Mina Restaurants, and winemaker, Sashi Moorman. Sandhi represents a union essential to the production of wine: the collaboration between man, earth, and vine. The willing participation of all three elements is necessary to make great wine, and the winegrower must make this collaboration rich and nourishing for all involved. An understanding of these joint efforts informs Sandhi’s exploration of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines throughout the Santa Barbara County terroir.
The 2019 Chardonnay “Central Coast” bottling is Sandhi Wines' first release of this cuvée, which hails from several vineyard sources, including Bien Nacido, Phelan Farm, Spanish Springs, Talley, and McIntyre, with many of these planted to relatively old vines. The wine is barrel-fermented and raised in neutral casks and puncheons.
Pork, rich fish, poultry, and vegetarian dishes.
The bouquet wafts from the glass in a youthful blend of apple, a touch of fresh pineapple, a complex base of salty soil tones, dried flowers, and just a whisper of vanillin oak from the older oak.
On the palate, the wine is bright, full-bodied, and very nicely balanced, with a good core, fine mineral undertow, zesty acids, and a long, nascently complex finish. This is fairly tightly knit out of the blocks and will show more complexity with a bit of bottle age, but in a pinch, it is already pretty tasty juice.
