Thomas Fogarty 2019 Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains

Thomas Fogarty 2019 Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains

Item Number: 17604

UPC: 0-746675119813

Country: USA
Region: California
Sub Region: Central Coast
Appellation/AVA: Santa Cruz Mountains
Estate Grown Wine: Yes
Vintage: 2019
Grape(s): 100% Chardonnay
Type: Wine - White
Bottle Size: 750 ml
Pack: 12
Closure: Cork
Alc by Vol(%): 13.8
Viticulture: Practicing Organic
Soil Type: Lambert shale, siltstone, and sandstone

Tasting Notes: The Thomas Fogarty Santa Cruz Mountains Estate Chardonnay showcases orchard fruits and brioche-scented aromas and flavors. It’s rounded, nicely textured, and balanced.

Winemaking Notes: This Chardonnay hails from the Santa Cruz Mountains, which is defined by a mountainous, maritime climate. The vineyards that produced this 2018 vintage were farmed using organic and biodynamic methods. In the winery, Fogarty has a minimalist approach to ensure the maximum expression of his vineyards. The grapes are whole cluster pressed into barrels for barrel fermentation using native yeast. Malolactic fermentation occurs spontaneously. The wine ages for 11 months in French oak, 20% new and an additional 7 months in tank. Basically the "ingredients" list for this delicious Chardonnay reads as: grapes and as little sulfites as possible.

Vintage Notes from Vinous 5/2022: "For the Chardonnays, 2019 has a slight edge over the 2018s. A cooler growing season seems to have especially benefitted the Chardonnays, which show a bit more energy and delineation than the 2018s. Winemaker Nathan Kandler points out that the Chardonnay harvest (which is always after the Pinots here) is now nearly a month earlier than it was a decade ago. As a result, the Chardonnays are also bottled earlier than they used to be."

Reviews

  • Vinous
    Rating: 92 (5/19/2022)
    The 2019 Chardonnay is such a beautiful wine. It is perhaps a bit more overt than most of the Chardonnays in the range, but I can't find fault in that, especially for a wine most people will drink young. Apricot, tangerine peel, baked apple tart and tropical accents are front and center in this mid-weight yet exuberant Chardonnay from Fogarty.
  • Decanter
    Rating: 95 (5/20/2023)

    A deeply reverberating wine with forward, piercing yellow-peach and grapefruit flavors cut by spine-tingling lemon-lime acidity. Barrel-fermented with native yeast and spontaneous malolactic fermentation, it's richly structured, powerful in concentration and anchored in earth, but maintains a salty, tangy freshness that's persistent through a long finish.