Byron Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay 2012

  • 90 Wine
    Spectator
3.3 Good (5)
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Byron Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay 2012 Front Bottle Shot
Byron Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay 2012 Front Bottle Shot Byron Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay 2012 Front Label Byron Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay 2012 Back Bottle Shot

Product Details


Varietal

Region

Producer

Vintage
2012

Size
750ML

ABV
14.2%

Features
Green Wine

Your Rating

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Somm Note

Winemaker Notes

The 2012 Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay displays fruit-forward citrus aromas, accented by hints of mineral and brown spice. On the palate, it is richly textured with stone fruit, fig, honey, spice and minerals. The wine is styled to highlight the vivid aromas and flavors of cool climate fruit. The wine is 100% barrel fermented with 100% malolactic fermentation. Additional layers of complexity are achieved through sur lie aging and weekly hand stirring of the barrels, known as batonage. Native yeasts, which contribute silkiness and depth to the wine, are used on selected lots to round out the final blend.

Professional Ratings

  • 90
    Appealing, with a rich, juicy core of intense fruitiness, offering tiers of melon, citrus and tropical fruit. Very clean, pure and focused. Drink now.

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Byron

Byron

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Byron, California
Byron Byron Winery Winery Image

Byron was founded in 1984 by winemaker Ken Brown. With years of experience as a winemaker in Santa Barbara County, Ken recognized the Santa Maria Valley's potential for great wines in the Burgundian style, and was the first winemaker to introduce Rhone-style grape varieties to the area. The first crush at Byron Vineyard & Winery produced 7,600 cases, and Byron soon gained national recognition for high quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

In 1990, the Robert Mondavi family purchased Byron, and Ken Brown became Winemaker and General Manager. He and Tim Mondavi, Robert's son, set about designing the new Byron Winery as an expression of their shared belief in natural farming, experimental viticulture and gentle grape handling. They wanted to eliminate pumping, which shears grape stems, skin and seeds, allows tannins and other harsh elements into the juice and can make wine bitter.

With the aid of noted architect R. Scott Johnson, who designed the Opus One winery in Napa Valley and San Francisco's Transamerica building, Ken designed a multi-level winery that replaces pumping with gravity flow, resulting in more complex, dynamic wines. Byron's vineyards were also expanded and replanted as Ken Brown experimented with trellising systems, new rootstocks and clones, row orientation, and planting density in his quest for the perfect grape.

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One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.

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Santa Maria Valley Wine

Central Coast, California

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A lesser-known but elite AVA within the larger Santa Barbara district, the Santa Maria Valley AVA runs precisely west to east starting near the coast. The valley funnels cool, Pacific Ocean air to the vineyards more inland, allowing grapes a longer hang time to ripen evenly and achieve their full potential by harvest time. Combined with minimal rainfall, consistent warm sunshine, and well-drained soils, it is an ideal environment for grape growing.

Many of the wineries here are small and highly respected, having established a reputation in the 1970s and 80s for producing excellent Central Coast wines like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. More recently, Syrah has also proven quite successful in the region. Many vineyards are owned by growers who sell their grapes to other wineries, so it is common to see the same vineyard name on bottlings from different wineries. Bien Nacido Vineyard is perhaps the best-known and most prestigious.

RGL01012340_2012 Item# 136963

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