- Certified Organic
- 100% Chardonnay
- La Rinconada Vineyard (Sta. Rita Hills AVA)
- First certified organic vineyard in Santa Barbara County
- Located immediately west of Sanford & Benedict Vineyard
- Predominantly clay and loam topsoil
- Indigenous yeast fermentation in 500L Puncheon
- Aged 10 months in puncheon, 6 months in stainless steel tank
- 201 cases produced
- 13.4% abv
Info
Producer:
Vintage:
2023
Country:
United States
Region:
California
Appellation:
Sta. Rita Hills
Variety:
Chardonnay
Color:
White
Farming Practice:
Sustainable
Sizes Available
| Full Bottle | US-SDH-35-23 | 12/750ml |
Resources
Press & Reviews
Vinous
Score
93
Date
2025-08-28
"The 2023 Chardonnay Rinconada Vineyard delivers powerful minerality in a taut, linear frame. Lemon pith, sea salt and flourishes of savory herbs gain intensity with air, but the 2023 is a wine of serious phenolic texture and grip more than aromatic expressiveness. Give it a bit of time in bottle or a generous decant."
Wine Advocate
Score
93+
Date
2025-11-06
"The 2023 Chardonnay La Rinconada emphasizes the site's high-toned side in this harvest, opening with a citrus-driven bouquet accented with the breezy, marine nature that routinely marks the vineyard. The palate mirrors this lifted nature with a silken, svelte profile that sits high in the mouth, concluding with a tensile, zesty finish that lingers with flinty undertones and an herbal touch. While I preferred the more textural Sanford & Benedict bottling at this stage, readers seeking a more linear expression of Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay will find much to love here."
Wine Spectator
Score
91
Date
2026-01-19
"Offers crisp, lemony notes, with lime sorbet and lemon verbena accents, plus plenty of punch from the citrus zest, white tea and lemon balm notes, all on a sleek frame alongside a touch of chalky minerality. Finds focus and harmony on the finish, where theres a white flower detail. 199 cases made. - MW"
REVIEWS FROM PAST VINTAGES
2022
James Suckling
Score
95
Date
2024-11-13
"Lovely richness and ripeness are balanced by great acidity and elements of minerals, toast and chalk in this creamy-textured wine. Honey, graham cracker, toasted almond and vanilla bean flavors seem to pour out of the glass. Drink or hold."
2022
Vinous
Score
94
Date
2024-08-15
"The 2022 Chardonnay La Rinconada airy, gracious and expansive at first, with lovely understated richness to back it up. Citrus confit, apricot, chamomile and lightly honeyed notes fill out the layers. A touch of oiliness extends the finish effortlessly."
2022
Wine Advocate
Score
94+
Date
2024-10-10
"The 2022 Chardonnay Rinconada Vineyard is a beautiful expression of this site, which consistently produces some of the region's most compelling Chardonnay. The nose is extroverted and oceanic, chock-full of saline-tinged aromas such as seashells, low tide and kelp that hover over a textured richness. The palate is roundly textured and impressively focused, slingshotting into a blazingly bright and layered finish propelled by intense minerality without austerity. It's one of the finer renditions of this site."
2022
Wine Enthusiast
Score
94
Date
2024-08-01
"Flinty aromas of struck stone make for a mineral-driven nose on this bo[1]tling, which is also layered in yuzu, cherimoya and jicama scents on the nose. There™s an extreme minerality to the palate, where that flinty tone saddles up against lime-splashed jicama flavors. "M.K. y. "M.K."
2022
Wine Spectator
Score
90
Date
2024-05-20
"Aromatic and detailed, offering a lovely mix of pear, lemongrass and vetiver on a light, elegant frame, with juicy apple and citrus flavors, plus lingering accents of Himalayan sea salt and lemon balm. 201 cases made. - MW"
2021
James Suckling
Score
95
Date
2023-05-09
2021
Wine Advocate
Score
95+
Date
2023-12-29
"The 2021 Chardonnay Rinconada Vineyard outperforms the Sanford & Benedict Chardonnay this vintage. It has singular aromas of grilled peaches, panna cotta, toast and wafts of matchstick, its detail and layering drawing me back to the glass again and again. The light-bodied palate has a core of mineral-driven fruit that, combined with the wine's tangy acidity, creates a shimmery impression. It has a long, latent finish and won't reach its full potential until it's had several years in bottle to unwind."
2021
John Gilman
Score
94
Date
2023-11-09
"Lying just to the west of fabled Sanford and Benedict Vineyard, the Rinconada Vineyard was the first certified organic vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills. The 2021 Rinconada chardonnay comes in at an even thirteen percent in this vintage and is again, just a touch reductive when first poured and in need of a bit of decanting time if drinking young. Once it has had a chance to stretch its wings, it shows a beautiful aromatic panoply of fresh pineapple, pear, a hint of passion fruit, discreet notes of iodine, a fine base of soil tones and just a touch of oak influence. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and complex, with lovely mid-palate depth of fruit, fine transparency and grip, bouncy acids and a long, succulent and impeccably balanced finish. This is gorgeous this year! 2023-2040."
2021
Wine and Spirits
Score
94
Date
2024-01-19
"Sashi Moorman,s interpretation of La Rinconada vineyard is super smoky when first poured, leading with scents of lime pith and lemon zest. With air, a pure apple-like fruit emerges. For all the fruit expression there,s mineral intensity here, pithy and electric, which broadens the texture and provides lift and length."
2021
Vinous
Score
93
Date
2023-09-09
2021
Wine Spectator
Score
93
Date
2023-07-31
Wine Advocate
Score
96
Date
2022-12-08