Peake Ranch - Chardonnay, Santa Barbara, California (2020)

TASTING NOTES

Ripe peach, caramelized apple, flower oil, brioche, and spice all emerge from the 2020 Chardonnay Santa Barbara County, a brilliantly textured, medium to full-bodied Chardonnay with terrific balance as well as length.

Grapes from both Sierra Madre & Peake Ranch Vineyards. 100% Malolactic Fermentation. 100% French Oak (37% of it new).

Sierra Madre is located on the western side of the Santa Maria Valley. The Vineyard benefits from cool summers. The block our wines come from is a south-facing hillside comprised of sandy, well-drained soil. The Robert Young clones that grow here take advantage of the spot to become both fully ripe and at the same time retain a high level of acidity.

The Peake Ranch Vineyard plantings are all along a hill that covers most of the ranch, exposing the vines to the cool air that comes off the Pacific and into the Santa Ynez Valley. The combination of North, South, East and West facing slopes coupled with the exposure to varying degrees of the cool wind give the vineyard a diversity of fruit options. 

Peake Ranch  was once owned by famed artist Channing Peake, whose family owned the property known as Rancho Jabali, until Richard Sanford bought the property in 1982. In 2013, half of the property which includes the landmark Sanford tasting shack (notably portrayed in the film Sideways), was purchased by John and Gill Wagner and is now Peake Ranch.