2022 Soberanes Vineyard Chardonnay
Santa Lucia Highlands AVA
Tasting Notes
“Medium yellow hue. Aromas of tangerine, papaya, key lime pie, and banana start off this enchanting Chardonnay. With some time, notes of peach, orange blossoms, and vanilla bean round out the aromatic features. Once in the mouth, these characteristics intensify in flavor and are met with zesty acidity and a polished texture. This wine ends with intricacy, delicacy, and a youthful structure. Enjoy now through 2031.”
~Bill Brosseau, Director of Winemaking
January 2024
“Complex aromas of lemon glaze and green melon meet with verbena and wild herb on the nose of this single vineyard expression. The palate is spritzy in lemon peel and flesh flavors, with warmer hints of nectarine fighting in compelling ways against the tightly grained structure.”
Matt Kettmann
Wine Enthusiast
May 2024
Production Data
Growers: Pisoni and Franscioni Families
Winemaker: Bill Brosseau
Appellation: Santa Lucia Highlands
Elevation/Exposure: 400 feet; East/Northeast
Soil: Rocky, sandy loam
Vineyard Age: 14 years
Viticulture Practice: Sustainable (SIP Certified)
Vinification: Pressed Whole-cluster, fermented in French Oak
Cooperage & Ageing: 12 months in French oak, 25% new
Production: 12 barrels
Composition: 100% Chardonnay
Acidity: 3.27 pH, 7.75 TA (g/L)
Alcohol: 14.2%
Harvest: September 17, 2022, hand harvested
Club Release: January 2024
Release Price: $57
Drink Now through 2031
Past Vintage Wine Scores
“Soberanes Vineyard was fairly recently-planted, as these Wente Clones are twelve years of age, but it is beautifully situated, lying next to Gary’s Vineyard that Adam Lee at Clarice Wine Company sources for one of his top bottlings of pinot noir. The 2021 Soberanes Vineyard Chardonnay from Testarossa was aged for twenty months in just over forty percent new oak and comes in at a svelte 14.2 percent alcohol. The wine’s aromatic constellation is refined and complex, offering up scents of fresh pineapple, pear, orange zest, a hint of butterscotch, beautiful soil tones, lemon blossoms and a classy framing of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and still quite primary, with a superb core of fruit, fine soil undertow and grip, bright acids and lovely balance on the long, focused and promising finish. This lovely wine deserves three to five years in the cellar to allow its secondary layers of complexity to start to properly emerge. It will be an excellent wine once it has blossomed, but drinking it now (albeit quite enjoyable) is infanticide. (Drink between 2026-2040).” 93+ points.
John Gilman
View From the Cellar
Mar/Apr 2023 Issue
“The 2021 Chardonnay Soberanes Vineyard is one of the more easygoing wines in this range. It offers good depth and fine balance in an understated style that can be enjoyed with minimal fanfare. Citrus peel, marzipan, white flowers, mint and tangerine oil are nicely delineated. Bright acids pull it all together on the finish.”
Antonio Galloni
Vinous
November 2023
“Warm croissant, white-flower and nectarine-compote aromas make for a comforting nose on this single vineyard expression. A sizzle of acidity enlivens the sip, where stone-fruit flavors play against a chalky minerality and citrus hits of Meyer lemon and grapefruit.”
Matt Kettmann
Wine Enthusiast
May 2023
“Shows a stunning mix of ripe pineapple, apple, salted butterscotch and candied ginger flavors that are full and smooth, but there’s a vibrant thread of acidity that keeps the flavors in focus and amplified. Long, expressive finish. Drink now through 2028. 325 cases made.”
MaryAnn Worobiec
Wine Spectator
April 2023
“There is richness aplenty to be found in this very deep, carefully oaked Chardonnay, yet there is also a fine spark of brightness to its step. It smells and tastes of a lovely mix of red and green apples embellished by a sympathetic dollop of crème brûlée sweetness. Fairly full in body but not in the least heavy with a supple mouthfeel and a terrifically sustained finish, it is both satisfying now and promises to age famously. It is a Chardonnay to bring out with special dinners featuring lobster or salmon served in a rich sauce.”
Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine
December 2022
“Here, again, is a standout Chardonnay that, in terms of its richness and marvelous fruity depth, is every bit the equal of its companion from the Sierra Mar Vineyard, yet it differs by being a bit firmer in structure and is, of the two, the one that more clearly asks for additional age. It is not that it is anything less than very satisfying right now, especially when poured in tandem with the likes of lobster in rich sauces or even sweet and savory duck dishes, but it promises to get even better with time, so much so, in fact, that we would lobby loudly for at least three or four years of forbearance with every expectation that it will be drinking beautifully still when twice as much time has passed.”
Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine
November 2021
“Somewhat reticent on the nose with whiffs of lemon verbena and cooking spice. Dense and rich in the mouth with some firmness but also with a leesy note. Super long and rich, chalky mineral like finish. Matured 19 months in 43% new French oak.”
Don Winkler
International Wine Review
October 2021
“The 2019 Chardonnay Soberanes Vineyard features soft white peach and apricot on the nose with tones of saline, hazelnuts and beeswax. The medium-bodied palate has a core of savory fruits balanced by juicy acidity and a long, nutty finish.”
Erin Brooks
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
December 2022
“Brilliant yellow. Vibrant, mineral-accented citrus and orchard fruit aromas, along with jasmine, vanilla and chamomile flourishes. Juicy and tightly focused on the palate, offering intense Meyer lemon, pear nectar and white peach flavors that slowly unfurl through the midpalate. Shows fine definition and mineral thrust on very long, focused finish that features bitter pear skin and citrus pith notes.”
Josh Raynolds
Antonio Galloni’s Vinous
October 2020
“Lush and rich with tangy acidity and creamy texture; deep, lovely and balanced with great length.”
Anthony Dias Blue
April 2019
“Here is a Chardonnay of unfettered fruity richness that a marries elements of ripe and green apples with lots of sweet oak in what is a well-balanced, slightly supple, full-bodied package that keeps on delivering through to a long and very insistently juicy finish. That it is so tasty now does not mean that it demands immediate drinking, and, as time is certain to prove, it has the unequivocal vitality and stamina of a wine that will age famously. Drink it now or wait for a few years, but, either way, it is guaranteed to please.”
Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine
“Brilliant green-hued straw. Smoke- and oak-spice-tinged pineapple, pear nectar and honeydew melon qualities on the deeply perfumed nose; a suave floral overtone builds as the wine opens up. Shows real intensity and strong clarity on the palate, which offers an array of densely packed tropical and orchard fruit flavors braced by a spine of juicy acidity. Finishes spicy, smooth and very long, with lingering orchard fruit and smoke notes and a touch of fennel.”
Josh Raynolds
Antonio Galloni’s Vinous
November 2019
“Lush and rich with tangy acidity and creamy texture; deep, lovely and balanced with great length.”
Anthony Dias Blue
April 23 2019
“Rich and ripe with sweet oak and bright acidity; generous, lush and nicely balanced; elegant and complete; a lovely, impressive wine made from a famous vineyard in northern Monterey County; dense and long.”
Anthony Dias Blue
August 2018
“Opening with exuberant brioche, honey-nut and pineapple notes over hints of apple pie and honeysuckle, the 2015 Chardonnay Soberanes Vineyard has a refreshing palate marked by zingy acidity, cutting through the intense tropical and toasty flavors, finishing on a mineral note.”
Lisa Perrotti-Brown
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
September 29, 2017
“The 2014 Chardonnay Soberanes Vineyard is a rich, textured, yet still beautifully defined and focused Chardonnay that offers lots of white peach, caramelized apple and spice aromas and flavors. It leans more towards the richer, bigger boned end of the spectrum, yet is impeccably balanced and has a great finish.”
Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“This beautiful Chardonnay is dry and rather bitter on the mid palate with good acidity and balance. It’s rich and creamy.”
International Wine Review
“Fairly intense and generously fruited with a fine sense of volume right from the first, this deep and very complete Chardonnay matches ripe apples with accents of sweet hardwoods and wild flowers and is as invitingly juicy as it is impeccably balanced. There are temptations aplenty for hasty drinking, not the least of which are its richness and downright delicious fruit, but its abiding vitality is the mark of a wine sure to pay real dividends if allowed to rest for a while in cellar, and we encourage even a brief wait.”
Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine
May 2014
“Here is deep, very well-crafted look at serious Chardonnay that hits the mark smartly in both richness and balance. It leads with complex aromas of optimally ripened apples, minerals, sweet toast and subtle lees, and it follows with layered, like-minded flavors that are at once rich, wonderfully vital and very long lasting. It is an outstanding wine of a great many nicely fit pieces, and we are comfortable in predicting that a two or three years of patient cellaring will make a very good thing even better.”
Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine
January 2014
The Soberanes Vineyard
The Soberanes Vineyard is the fifth and newest vineyard in the Pisoni and Franscioni family partnership. It is located in the heart of the Santa Lucia Highlands and builds upon a tradition of high quality hand-winegrowing. Gary Pisoni says the Soberanes Vineyard is their best property to date and they are expecting great vintages from it in the future because they have been able to apply all of their experience in this new location. There are 27 acres of the Pisoni clone Pinot Noir planted and 8 acres of Chardonnay. The property is adjacent to Garys’ Vineyard with an east/northeast orientation at 400 feet in elevation. The soil is rocky, sandy loam. The vineyard was originally planted in 2008.