2017 Talley Vineyards Estate Chardonnay Arroyo Grande Valley 750 ml

Perfectly balanced with a creamy texture and mouthwatering citrus, the 2017 Talley Estate Chardonnay delivers exactly what has made Talley the #1 under-$30 Chardonnay in Wine Access history. It’s “one of California’s best Chardonnay brands” according to Wine Spectator and we’ve got it for $30.

Talley Vineyards isn’t just perfectly positioned for some of the best cool-climate Chardonnay in California, it’s also perfectly positioned for lunch. The last time we drove from LA to SF, our stomachs started growling just as we crossed from Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo county. So as we pulled off of Highway 101 toward Pismo Beach, and we texted Eric Johnson, Talley’s winemaker. 

Eric was busy bottling the new vintage of Talley’s Estate Chardonnay, but we hounded him to duck out to the Somerset Grill for a bite, and he walked in with a bottle of the 2017 Estate Chardonnay just as our lobster rolls were hitting the table. We popped the cork and reveled in the Chardonnay that has dazzled Wine Access members for nearly a decade. 

Showing a golden hue with green reflections, its aromatics burst with honey and orange blossom, and it’s got a generous palate of green apple, pear, yuzu, and Meyer lemon zest, with notes of anise and clove spice, toast and buttercream. It’s a wine of perfect harmony: the mouthwatering acidity made it perfect with fresh oysters, and the creamy texture was ideal with the succulent lobster rolls. For California estate-grown Chardonnay, you can’t do better.

Eric was in the right place at the right time with Talley, where he started as a harvest intern. He was working in the tasting room (with a fresh enology degree from Cal Poly in hand) when there was a vacancy in their lab—and he found himself running it less than a year out of college. Three years later, at just 26 years old, he was Talley’s winemaker, with some of California’s most pristine Burgundy varieties at his fingertips.

You don’t need to stand on Talley soil to see what makes it so special: As we ate, Eric, who hails from the Central Valley but exudes a laid-back coastal vibe, flipped his head out toward the ocean, where the fog was rolling in on a stiff wind. “That maritime influence…” he started. “We’re close to Paso, but a world away because of our proximity to the ocean. On a clear day, you can see the water from Rosemary, no problem.” 

Talley’s precious Rosemary and Rincon Vineyards, which supply single-vineyard bottlings that go for double the price, make up 82% of the Estate bottling, the first Chardonnay made in Arroyo Grande Valley. It was the result of a visionary move, when the Talley family planted a test plot of grapes on their vegetable farm in 1982. Four years later, convinced by the quality of the fruit, Talley Vineyards was born, and soon Central Coast Chardonnay was on the map.

2017 got off to a late start after a wet winter, and after a cool and moderate growing season, the Chardonnay ended up extraordinary. “We sorted and only kept pristine fruit,” Eric told us. “The wine we made had this beautiful concentration with elegance, without higher alcohol, that we haven’t ever seen come together like that.” We swirled and sipped (well, the driver just sniffed), and as the bottle dipped lower and lower, Eric finally glanced at his watch. He hit the road, and we did too, with the newest vintage of Talley’s can’t-miss Chardonnay on our mind—and an allocation of one of the Golden State’s most beautifully balanced white wines earmarked for our members.