2012 Sbragia Family Vineyards Chardonnay Home Ranch Dry Creek Valley 750 ml

"Midas Touch" at Home Ranch

The 2012 vintage in both Napa and Sonoma wasn't only extraordinary for Cabernet Sauvignon, but also for Chardonnay. That being said, this was also an exceedingly large crop vintage, and those that didn't pay close attention to yields — on both sides of the Oakville Grade — were penalized for their overcropping.

Not surprisingly then, the most remarkable Chardonnays were drawn from estate vineyards or vineyards where the winery paid by the acre and not by the ton, thus insuring complete control of crop-thinning practices throughout the growing season.

The usual suspects put out some of the most extraordinary and highest-rated Chardonnays of their careers, with Mark Aubert, Luc Morlet, and Peter Michael leading the way, all garnering 99- to 100-point scores from The Wine Advocate. But for those of us who aren't all that comfortable shelling out $150 per bottle for white wine, one more time, the most stunning Chardonnay lineup of 2012 was crafted by Ed Sbragia off Gamble Ranch and Sbragia's Home Ranch Vineyard.

Ed Sbragia is obviously uncomfortable tooting his own horn. But this quiet, self-effacing winemaker, along with Craig Williams (Phelps) and Bob Levy (Harlan Estate), remains one of the most revered winemakers in the valley.

After graduating from Cal Davis with a degree in chemistry and then completing a masters degree in enology, Sbragia caught a break in 1976 when he landed a job at Beringer Winery assisting the legendary Myron Nightingale. Eight years later, when Nightingale retired, Sbragia was handed the keys to the cellar. Over the following decades, Ed crafted dozens of "Private Reserve" wines, earning Beringer rave reviews both for its world-class Cabernet Sauvignon and its richly textured, mineral Chardonnay.

In 2006, Sbragia realized not only his dream, but also the dreams of his father and grandfather as well, when he purchased the old Lake Sonoma Winery and began crafting small-batch Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay from a handful of vineyards with which he'd been working for over 30 years. In 2012, two of those sites — Gamble Ranch and the Sbragia Family's Home Ranch Vineyard — gave birth to absolutely brilliant Chardonnays, both of which earned rave reviews from The Wine Advocate. Robert Parker couldn't have been more emphatic when speaking of Sbragia's "Midas touch" with the world's most noble white grape variety:

If you can scrounge up Ed Sbragia's 2012 Gamble Ranch Chardonnay (96 points), buy every bottle you can get your hands on. But if you're looking to sock away a couple cases of The Wine Advocate's highest-rated, under-$25 estate-grown Chardonnay of the monumental 2012 vintage, STOP READING NOW and HIT the Buy Button. Our 100-case allocation of the 2012 Home Ranch Chardonnay may not last until noon!

The 2012 Sbragia Family Vineyards Chardonnay Home Ranch is a big, rich, full-blown Chardonnay with just enough steely backbone to keep the natural opulence of the 2012 vintage in check. Half the wine was barrel-fermented in French cooperage, the other half in stainless steel to preserve vibrancy. Pale gold. Exotic honeysuckle and tropical fruit aromas laced with new-wood vanilla. Rich, weighty, and dense on the attack, tightly wound around a kernel of ripe apple, honey, pear, and lemon zest, finishing with excellent vibrancy and cut. Drink now-2021.

A drop-dead bargain at $30/bottle direct from the winery. Like STEALING this morning for just $23. Buy every bottle you can stuff in the cellar of Parker's top-rated under-$25 Chardonnay of 2012. Shipping included on 6.