2017 DeSante Chardonnay Napa Valley 750 ml

It’s been a long time since a 10-year-old David DeSante made his first batch of wine in the kitchen sink (much to his mother’s consternation). In the interim, he joined the Navy, trained to become a doctor, went to wine school, did harvest in Australia, and turned down a job offer from Château Lafite. David would probably say the most important thing he did in that time was to meet his wife, Katharine, who has been his partner in every wine-related venture since that mess in the kitchen in Pennsylvania.

David and Katharine eventually settled in Napa, where their love of French wines led them to seek out older, mostly dry-farmed parcels to source their golden Chardonnay. They found what they were looking for near Yountville, a town founded in the Gold Rush era towards the southern end of Napa Valley, where the natural narrowing of the valley holds cool air and fog each morning. Here, the confluence of cool air, mature vines, and limited irrigation creates the perfect microclimate for bright, mineral-infused, Chardonnays. 

Add to that the fact that this Chardonnay doesn’t undergo malolactic fermentation—the secondary process that gives that buttery flavor we so often associate with Chardonnay—and their 2017 release starts showcasing Burgundian characteristics like ripe pear and crushed alpine flowers underscored by rocky minerality. 

What makes this Chardonnay distinctively Californian, though, is the unique terroir. The grapes come from the Yount Mill Vineyard, which is characterized by alluvial Bale loam soil (also found in the famed To Kalon Vineyard). This combination of sand, silt, stone, and clay comprises both sedimentary and volcanic material shed by the surrounding mountains and features high levels of both calcium and iron. The result is Chardonnay that’s the perfect blend of Burgundian elegance with a ripe, California twist. 

The DeSantes have a wry and lovable sense of humor—but when it comes to making wine, they’re deadly serious. Their production is in the neighborhood of just 1000 cases per year, and you can taste the laser focus they’re able to give to every drop. The farming is certified organic, the fermentations are spontaneous, and the couple even make their own barrels, so that they can control the level of toast (less is more at chez DeSante). 

Those barrels are made up of a mix of American, French, and Hungarian oaks, and the Napa Chardonnay spends a little over six months in them, with just a small percentage being new. The wines are bottled unfiltered and unfined (which David says allows them to use less sulfur). At a whopping 350 cases, the Chardonnay is actually the largest-production wine at this tiny winery. At today’s sharp discount, it won’t last long.