I love Justin Willet's style of Chardonnay, and his 2023 Santa Barbara County bottling is all about purity, restraint, and precision.
A far cry from the buttery and oaky style that seems to be falling out of favor with our clientele, this jumps out of the glass "with beautifully pure, fresh aromas of jasmine, citrus rinds and orchard blossoms," said the Wine Advocate.
Founded in 2005 by Justin Tyler Willett, who grew up in Santa Barbara, his winemaking philosophy is simple. "Generally speaking, my perspective is less is more. I feel like if we can bring really high quality fruit into the cellar, the heavy lifting is really kind of done." This means top vineyard sites, organic farming, native yeast fermentations, and minimal new oak.
Justin's 2023 Chardonnay is composed of grapes from some of Santa Barbara County's greatest sites. A blend of fruit from Bien Nacido, Dierberg, La Rinconada, and Sanford & Benedict, the wine is aged for 11 months in French oak, but just 10% of the barrels are new. This "less is more" treatment allows these "Grand Cru," heritage sites to express their true magic.
This wine is truly striking. It's so fresh and inviting with its core of bright tropical fruits, lemon rind, white floral, and chalky mineral aromas. There is nice concentration and length on the palate, but what really stand out is the wine's wonderful tension and poise. As the Wine Advocate said, this "punches far above its weight and would do so as an appellation wine, much less a regional one."
I know we've gotten you all hooked onto White Burgundy, but do yourself a favor and try this. I suspect it will become a fixture at Table Wine, and I recommend it with full conviction.
Josh Spurling
Owner/Operator/Wine Lover
Table Wine Asheville
