2021 Vinum Cellars Chardonnay Monterey 750 ml

Chardonnay can channel its surroundings better than almost any other grape, so when you give it majestic peaks, golden sunlight, brisk ocean breezes, and impenetrable fog, you’re in for quite a ride.

That’s exactly what the 2021 Vinum Cellars Chardonnay—hailing from Monterey, home to dramatic scenery and some of California’s premier white-wine terroir—gives you.

Grown on the Arroyo Loma Vineyard by distinguished Central Coast viticulturist Steve MacIntyre, this is classic California Chardonnay. Enticingly aromatic and rich, it delivers a bounty of yellow apple and grilled pineapple on the nose, with a slow-rising acidity on the palate interwoven with hints of spice and vanilla. A full course of malolactic fermentation rounds out the acidity, while sur lie aging in used oak fosters an irresistible texture.

When winemakers Richard Bruno and Chris Condos founded Vinum on a shoestring budget in 1997, they had one goal: to craft single-vineyard bottles with exceptional terroir-transparency. Their two careers’ worth of connections gave them plenty of sought-after vineyards to tap.

The organically farmed Arroyo Loma vineyard near King City is separated from the Pacific only by the Santa Lucia Range’s lush peaks, and the area enjoys an ideal confluence of conditions. Overnight fog shelters the vines and then dissipates in the morning, affording them ample sunlight in the afternoon. Temperatures then drop at night, putting the brakes on ripening and  allowing the grapes to retain optimal acidity.

The 2021 vintage was warm across California, but the Pacific Ocean’s influence kept Monterey Chardonnay extremely vivacious. The long, temperate growing season let grapes mature slowly until the marine layer retreated late in the summer, admitting gentle rays of sun that helped them develop beautiful richness.