Peake Ranch Santa Barbara County Chardonnay 2020

Santa Barbara County Chardonnay 2020
93WA/93VM
Peake Ranch

The Santa Barbara County Chardonnay integrates the two coldest AVAs in Santa Barbara, those being the Sta. Rita Hills (sourced from our Peake Ranch Vineyard) and Santa Maria Valley (sourced from our Sierra Madre Vineyard) respectively. This very expressive wine exudes fresh notes of citrus blossom, white pineapple, crème brulé, with delicate expressions of stone fruits, dried flowers, and lemongrass. Nice acidity up front, slight grip, and a long finish with subtle weight on the palate.

OAK REGIME: 100% French Oak, 37% New Oak

CLONE: 76, 96, Wente, 4, Hyde

VINEYARDS: Sierra Madre Vineyard & Peake Ranch Vineyard

Our tasting note:

Peak Ranch’s SBC Chardonnay over delivers for this price range. It offers bright green apple and citrus notes both on the nose and the palate. The 37% new oak is well integrated with its medium-bodied structure and has excellent acidity, making it great to sip on or an ideal accompaniment on the table. It has a fresh and long finish. Superb, excellent value.

93 pts Wine Advocate

Barrel fermented and matured, the 2020 Chardonnay Santa Barbara County opens with matchstick and savory reduction that give way to peach and beeswax aromas. The medium-bodied palate has a delicate core of fruit, bright freshness and a long, creamy finish. 855 cases produced.

93 pts Vinous Media / Antonio Galloni

The 2020 Chardonnay Peake Ranch Vineyard is brisk, finely cut and bristling with energy. Lemon peel, mint, chalk, white pepper and crushed rocks abound. The combination of fruit depth and tension works so well here. There's plenty of substance here.

This is another strong set of wines from Peake Ranch. Winemaker Wynne Solomon continues to move these wines in the direction of greater freshness, although in 2020 there is obviously a vintage effect as well. Solomon sources fruit from the estate vineyard (where the wines tend to be a bit more linear), John Sebastiano (on the eastern side of the Sta. Rita Hills, where the wines tend to be bigger) and Sierra Madre (a top Chardonnay site in Santa Maria), all part of proprietor John Wagner’s enviable collection of vineyard holdings.