Diora - La Splendeur du Soleil - Chardonnay - 2021

$21.99

Diora is a Monterey Chardonnay, named for the golden Santa Lucia hills above the family's San Bernabe Vineyard. Winemaker James Ewart draws roughly eighty percent of the fruit from San Bernabe and the rest from the cooler Santa Lucia Highlands. All of it barrel fermented, about forty-five percent new oak, fourteen months in mostly French wood. This is the rich, tropical, creme brulee style of California Chardonnay done with real care. Buy it for the person who wants a big white.

Pale gold. Pineapple and toasted oak on the nose with ripe apricot and pear. Creme brulee flavors lead into key lime, white peach and marshmallow. Medium bodied, round, with a slightly toasty finish.

Classic matches for Chardonnay: Roast chicken, lobster or crab with butter, corn dishes, soft creamy cheeses.

San Bernabe sits on ancient sand dunes and calcareous soils, free draining, with afternoon winds funneling down from Monterey Bay. Ewart selected specific blocks and mostly Dijon clones. Malolactic fermentation and biweekly lees stirring build the buttery texture.