2017 Chardonnay (Central Coast)

I was really impressed with these new releases from Calera. The 2017s Pinots in particular are of note. Whereas many regions in California struggled with Labor Day heat spikes that coincided with harvest, Calera had the advantage of being a little bit later in their growing season, largely the result of a cold and very wet start to the year. As always, winemaker Mike Waller does the estate Pinots with 100% whole clusters, with the exception of the de Villiers which these days sees more like 50-60% stems. All the Pinots spent 18 months in barrel. Other highlights include the Central Coast Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. A decision to release those wines a later than in the past has really paid off. In short, its pretty hard to go wrong here.

This is a solid set of wines from Calera. The Aligoté, Viognier and Mt. Harlan Chardonnay are among the highlights in the whites. In recent years, Calera has expanded the Pinot range to include select, single-vineyard bottlings from sites outside the estate's Mt. Harlan property. This year, the Muns Vineyard Pinot, from a vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains, is especially fine. I found some of the other 2016 Pinots to be a bit awkward. Winemaker Mike Waller explained that, although 2016 was the first year after the drought, it is possible the vines were carrying some accumulated stress from several years with basically no water. The ability of Pinot Noir to transmit so much about site and vintage is one of the things that makes wine so fascinating, and the 2016 Pinots definitely tell the story of the year.