2011 Chardonnay Bentrock

I doubt there are too many people who have tasted more of the world's reference-point wines than sommelier/author/winemaker Rajat Parr. That perspective informs the gorgeous wines Parr crafts with winemaker Sashi Moorman at Sandhi. The focus is on Chardonnay and Pinot from top sites in the Santa Rita Hills. The newest additions to the Sandhi range are two bottlings from Bill Wenzlau's vineyards, a superb site nestled between Sea Smoke and Mount Carmel. Sandhi fans will want to check out Domaine de la Cote, Parr and Moorman's new project from estate vineyards that previously belonged to Evening Land. Relative to those wines, the Sandhi Pinots are generally made with lower percentages of whole clusters and are either racked to tank or bottled before the following harvest, while the Domaine de la Cote Pinots see longer elevage in oak. The Chardonnays are made in a fairly traditional, Burgundy-influenced style, with about a year in oak followed by 5-6 months in steel. Those wines have come a long way since last year, when they were raw and not fully formed.