Sanford Chardonnay Sanford and Benedict Vineyard 2020 - Wine Watch Pick for Best Domestic Chardonnay of 2024!
“Every day I spend my time
Drinking wine, feeling fine
Waiting here to find the sign
That I can understand, yes I am”
-Everyday by A$AP Rocky ft. Mark Ronson, Miguel & Rod Stewart
I know everyone puts out their list of top wines before the end of the year but we’re different at Wine Watch. We prefer to reflect back for a few more weeks and see what we still have remaining in stock that we can open up with our “Wine Drinking People” at our annual “Best of” tasting the third week in January.
Here is our top pick for a domestic Chardonnay for 2024 from one of the top vineyard sites in the entire world. A vineyard that is in its peak years of production at just over 50 years of age and on its own rootstock. The Sanford and Benedict Vineyards is a unicorn and so amazing that François Labet, owner of Château de la Tour, the largest landowner in the Clos Vougeot wanted to do a collaboration with the Terlato family.
When we hosted John Terlato in 2024 at the Wine Bar, we showed all of the wines from Sanford Winery including the Burgundy from the Francois Labet portfolio of wines. The best wines on the table at the end of the night were the Domaine Jean Francois “The Twelve Rows" Sanford & Benedict Vineyard wines. John told the story on how he gave Francois the pick of any 12 rows in the entire vineyard and the results are stunning. The production methods are similar between these 12 rows wines but they definitely show a little different style and these twelve rows in the Sanford and Benedict vineyard are special. We have included all the wines from Sanford Winery on this offering along with the Terlato family’s portfolio of Burgundy and a special Napa Valley Cabernet, the crown jewel of the Terlato’s wines from California.
Wine Watch’s top Domestic Chardonnay of 2024!
2020 SANFORD & BENEDICT CHARDONNAY SANFORD & BENEDICT VINEYARD
Price: $75.00 Your Price: $66.00 Quantity in Stock: 62
WINEWATCH TASTING NOTES: Lovely bouquet of green apple and Meyer lemon with notes of white flowers and hints of briny mineral nuance and a touch of lightly toasted oak spice. One the tongue this wine is bright and zesty with a texture of whole milk, beautifully layered and nuanced with Meyer lemon and green apple fruit lovely intensity, hints of candle wax and orange marmalade on the finish along with chamomile, very well balance and a long layered finish. Finish 50+ TASTING DATE 4/24/24 MOST EXCELLENT – Wine Watch Pick for Best Chardonnay of 2024!!!!!
A bit about Sanford Winery:
In the Sta. Rita Hills, it all began with Sanford. In 1971, the Sanford & Benedict Vineyard became the first vineyard in what would become a world-class, cool climate wine-growing region. Sanford Winery has been a pioneer in the Sta. Rita Hills from the beginning and the vineyards and winery continues to thrive, innovate and excel under the vision, guidance, stewardship, leadership, and hands-on participation of the Terlato family.
(Cellarmaster Auggie Rodriguez (right) and family at Sanford & Benedict Vineyard in 1972)
Botanist Michael Benedict and his friend Richard Sanford were committed to finding a cool climate region and location with just enough heat accumulation to ripen, but not over ripen, wine grapes. A location where they could plant and grow grapes and craft wines, where the quality might equal the best of the best in Europe.
Michael began researching and touring the cool coastal regions of California in search of a region and site that would suit this mission. After an incredible amount of research, observation, collection of data and analysis, Michael believed he had found the perfect location - one which possessed just the right combination of weather patterns, overall cool climate and varying soil conditions. His analysis took him to a unique part of the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County and right to the foot of the property that would ultimately become the Sanford & Benedict vineyard. The first vines were planted in 1971, and soon the Pinot Noir from this remote vineyard created a buzz. Others soon followed, wanting to capture the magic of this place. It was the Sanford & Benedict Vineyard which would form the backbone of what is now the Sta. Rita Hills AVA and it was also this vineyard that supplied the cuttings for many of the surrounding vineyards.
The team of Michael Benedict and Richard Sanford would go separate ways after the 1980 vintage and the Sanford Winery continued its existence. Through the years, Sanford Winery remained notable in the region for its pioneering history and for producing wines of high quality from the Sanford & Benedict Vineyard.
In 1997, La Rinconada Vineyard was planted adjacent to the Sanford & Benedict Vineyard and this site would also become home to the winery building and tasting room. This vineyard shares many of the same ideal characteristics that have made the Sanford & Benedict Vineyard famous while also possessing its own unique and idiosyncratic characteristics. The unique nature of the two vineyards can be identified in the single vineyard wines.
(John Terlato and Michael Benedict)
In 2002, the Terlato family became partners in Sanford Winery. They realized that the vineyards and winery operations required additional investments, which they provided, and as a result they became majority owners and managing partners in 2005. The Terlatos were also responsible for re-uniting the estate when they purchased the Sanford & Benedict vineyard in 2007. This was a major initiative and milestone which formed the foundation of their vision, which was to reunite the properties and recreate the Grand Cru nature of the estate.
The Terlato family has been fortunate to have had enjoyed more than a half century of success in multiple facets of the luxury wine industry. They attribute their success to having followed a simple principle: put quality first, as quality endures. They have applied this principle to the vineyards and wine making at Sanford.
The rest of the wines from Sanford Winery on SALE!!
2017 Sanford Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills
Price: $30.00 Your Price: $26.40 Quantity in Stock: 2
(91 Points) The 2017 Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills was barrel fermented and aged eight months in about 20% new oak. It has a very toasty nose with gunflint hints over baked yellow apple, white peach, pastry crust, lemon meringue and banana chip. Medium to full-bodied, it has a good core of toasty/savory fruits, with juicy acidity and a long finish - Erin Brooks, The Wine Advocate
2020 SANFORD CHARDONNAY LA RINCONADA SANTA RITA HILLS
Price: $69.00 Your Price: $60.72 Quantity in Stock: 6
(94 Points) “Saline and graphite give way to baked apples, acacia and yogurty aromas on the 2020 Chardonnay La Rinconada Vineyard. Medium-bodied with a gentle phenolic grip, it offers bursts of refreshing acidity, mineral-driven flavors and a long, elegant finish.” Wine Advocate.
2021 Sanford Pinot Noir Estate Sta. Rita Hills Magnum 1.5L
Price: $94.50 Your Price: $83.16 Quantity in Stock: 2
(93 Points) Moving to the reds, the 2021 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills comes from Sanford & Benedict and La Rinconada vineyards. Its medium ruby hue is followed by a brilliant nose of spiced raspberries, flowers, underbrush, and peppery herbs. Jeb Dunnuck
2018 Sanford Pinot Noir La Rinconada Santa Rita Hills
Price: $60.00 Your Price: $52.80 Quantity in Stock: 28
The 2018 La Rinconada comes from our higher elevation vineyard blocks, all high on the hill east of the winery. These windy and steep vineyards give great intensity, complexity and structure.
The 2018 La Rinconada Vineyard Pinot Noir is a wine of tremendous depth. Black tea, leather, fennel, and raspberries all jump out of the glass. The 2018 is deep, rich and suave with great length. This wine is delicious now yet has the balance and structure to age gracefully for some time.
2018 Sanford & Benedict Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard
Price: $60.00 Your Price: $52.80 Quantity in Stock: 15
Sanford and Benedict Vineyard is one of the best known sites for Pinot Noir in this part of California and there are many that make a great wine from this fruit but Sanford Winery made this vineyard famous. This wine has a deep dark cherry color and is loaded with black raspberry and cherry berry fruit featuring a full array of exotic spices, clove and cinnamon. Very silky and velvety on the tongue with lovely ripe cherry raspberry like fruit and a host of spices echoing the aromas on the nose through the finish. Most Excellent
2019 Domaine Jean Francois The Twelve Rows Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Chardonnay Sta Rita Hills
Price: $127.00 Your Price: $111.76 Quantity in Stock: 7
(97 Points) The 2020 The Twelve Rows Chardonnay opens with exotic aromas of lychee, poached pears, white peaches, acacia and beeswax with a touch of flinty character. The medium-bodied palate is satiny and seamless, reluctantly revealing its mineral-driven flavors. Chalky and minerally yet certainly not lacking in perfumed fruit, its long, slowly evolving finish hints that this wine has much more to offer as it unwinds in bottle. Domaine Jean François is a new collaboration between Sanford and François Labet, owner of Château de la Tour, the largest landowner in the Clos Vougeot and the only winery located within the Clos itself. The de la Tour wines are imported into the US by the Terlato Wine Group, which purchased a majority stake in Sanford in 2005. John Terlato, Sanford winemaker Trey Fletcher and Labet decided to work together on a new cuvée made from the old vines planted at Sanford. "We followed François's winemaking program, issuing thoughts and suggestions from pruning through to bottling," Terlato notes. If this first bottling of Domaine Jean François is any indication, this will be an exciting project to follow in the future
2019 Domaine Jean Francois The Twelve Rows Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Pinot Noir Sta Rita Hills
Price: $127.00 Your Price: $111.76 Quantity in Stock: 11
Domaine Jean François is a new collaboration between Sanford and François Labet, owner of Château de la Tour, the largest landowner in the Clos Vougeot and the only winery located within the Clos itself. The de la Tour wines are imported into the US by the Terlato Wine Group, which purchased a majority stake in Sanford in 2005. John Terlato, Sanford winemaker Trey Fletcher and Labet decided to work together on a new cuvée made from the old vines planted at Sanford. "We followed François's winemaking program, issuing thoughts and suggestions from pruning through to bottling," Terlato notes. If this first bottling of Domaine Jean François is any indication, this will be an exciting project to follow in the future.
The Wines from the Terlato family of Imports from Burgundy
2018 Domaine Pierre Labet Beaune Clos du Dessus des Marconnets Blanc, Cote de Beaune
Price: $112.50 Your Price: $99.00 Quantity in Stock: 3
Medium gold in color with a nose of fresh citrus and ripe yellow stone fruit aromas. An accomplished wine, richly flavored and vibrant showing fresh pear, good structure and stony mineral notes.
2019 Domaine Pierre Labet Beaune Clos du Dessus des Marconnets Blanc, Cote de Beaune
Price: $105.00 Your Price: $92.40 Quantity in Stock: 5
Situated above the premier cru Les Marconnets, Clos du Dessus des Marconnets Chardonnay parcels are on the lower part of the slope near the boundary of Savigny-les-Beaune. Most of the area is negocient-owned but as with all of Labet’s vines, these are estate-owned. The wine shows the richness of Meursault and the stony-mineral character of Pernand-Vergelesses. Wines from this under-promoted climat offer tremendous value and could easily be the darlings of sommeliers to recommend to enterprising consumers.
2017 DOMAINE PIERRE LABET AUX COUCHERIAS, BEAUNE PREMIER CRU, FRANCE
Price: $141.00 Your Price: $124.08 Quantity in Stock: 6
Francois asserts, “When the reds from Beaune are good, they are as good as the wines from Volnay.” So it is for the Coucherias 1er Cru, which is a solid red with more structure and precision than the Marconnets. Coucherias is an evening vineyard located on a steep section facing southwest that has magnificent views of the sunset (Coucherias refers to “sunset”). Old vines planted in 1964 are rooted in clay and Jurassic limestone and yield a wine that rewards extended cellaring.
2019 Labet and Dechelette Chateau de La Tour Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru
Price: $337.50 Your Price: $297.00 Quantity in Stock: 1
The average age of the vines comprising this cuvée is 67 years. Francois prefers a blend of older and younger vines for complexity and replaces vines only when necessary. The parcels for the cuvee classique are located in the middle of the appellation forming a “T” at the foot of the chateau and next to Grands Echezeaux.
Classic Vosne character of dark fruit perfumed with hints of violets, ear th and exotic wood nuances.
Cuvee Classique shows a rich, dense fruit expression from vines averaging 65+ years. Dark berries, plum and cassis flavors are beautifully layered. A well-balanced and well-structured wine.
2019 LABET AND DECHELETTE CHATEAU DE LA TOUR CLOS DE VOUGEOT VIEILLES VIGNES GRAND CRU
Price: $450.00 Your Price: $396.00 Quantity in Stock: 6
(94-96 points) The 2019 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru Vieilles Vignes is very promising, unwinding in the glass with notes of dark berry fruit, orange peel, rose petals, rich soil tones and spices. Full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, it's deep and concentrated, with rich, powdery tannins, lively acids and a long, resonant finish. This was a fascinating tasting with father François Labet and son Edouard, who are together pushing Domaine Pierre Labet and the Château de la Tour to new qualitative heights. Organic and now biodynamic farming in the vineyards, vinification with—in red—appreciable percentages of whole clusters in the winery and long élevage in the cellars are the order of the day. Perfumed, seamless and concentrated, the 2019s are immensely promising, and in a richer, more overtly muscular register, the 2018s (which I took the opportunity during my visit to re-taste in bottle) have turned out very well, too. I'll be hoping to spend more time at this address later in 2021 and plan to report back in more detail. (WK) (1/2021) Wine Advocate
HISTORIC AND PRESTIGIOUS
For seven centuries, the Cistercian monks were the sole owners of Vougeot. After the French Revolution, the clos remained in state ownership until 1818, and was subdivided in 1889 where François Labet’s great-grandfather, Mr. Beaudet of Beaune was one of six buyers, and went on to build Chateau de la Tour in 1890.
When François inherited the 15 acre family clos in the early 1980s, he made his first vintage in 1984, and has been making wine from these coveted Burgundian rows ever since.
François has kept the vines away from outside management and chemical influence by maintaining an intimate, natural, and regenerative viticulture process as a way to honor the unique land with its exceptional soils, and his ancestors, who farmed in the same way.
Today, Clos de Vougeot has more than 80 owners, with Labet as the single largest landholder with 15 acres. With the exception of the famous Château du Clos de Vougeot, Château de la Tour is the only château on the entire clos.
DOMAINE PIERRE DAMOY
2018 DOMAINE PIERRE DAMOY CHAMBERTIN CLOS DE BEZE GRAND CRU
Price: $1377.00 Your Price: $1211.76 Quantity in Stock: 4
(97 Points) Fragrant, fluid and seductive for the silky texture, with cherry, floral, sandalwood and oak spice aromas and flavors. Well-structured yet deftly balanced, this feels effortless and graceful overall. Reveals licorice and mineral notes on the finish. Best from 2025 through 2046. 40 cases made. Wine Spectator
BEST KNOWN FOR PRODUCING PINOT NOIR FROM ITS GRAND CRU VINEYARD
Domaine Pierre Damoy is a Burgundy wine producer located in Gevrey-Chambertin. The family-owned domaine was founded in the 1920s and has been managed by Pierre Damoy since 1992. It is best known for producing Pinot Noir from its Grand Cru vineyard holdings, in particular the Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze Grand Cru vineyard. The domaine covers around 11 hectares (27 acres) of vineyard land spread throughout Gevrey-Chambertin's grand cru vineyards of Chapelle-Chambertin, Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze and Le Chambertin. Damoy owns a portion of Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze as well as Chapelle-Chambertin. Vines at both sites range from 60-80 years old. Damoy also holds a small area of land in the Chambertin vineyard, and produces Pinot Noir from Marsannay, as well as Bourgogne Blanc and Rouge from vineyards in Fixin and Couchey.
Episode – The Napa Valley Terlato Family Bordeaux Blend
2017 Terlato Family Vineyards "Episode" Napa Valley Proprietary Red
Price: $168.50 Your Price: $148.28 Quantity in Stock: 5
The pinnacle wine for Terlato Vineyards, EPISODE stands shoulder to shoulder with the very best Bordeaux Blends in the world. The Terlato family makes this boutique Bordeaux blend of classic varietals from the best Napa Valley fruit.
2009 Terlato Family Vineyards "Episode" Napa Valley Proprietary Red MAGNUM 1.5L
Price: $378.00 Your Price: $332.64 Quantity in Stock: 4
(95 points) Terlato's focus on Bordeaux-style red wines has paid off in the last several vintages, and this blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot continues the success streak. It has ripe, spicy flavors of blackberry jam, black currant and sweet, toasty oak, and the tannin-acid structure is balanced. Still, it's an astringent wine that needs time in the cellar, so give it at least eight years. It could age well beyond that. *Cellar Selection* (4/2013) Wine Enthusiast