Santa Cruz Mountains, Chardonnay, 2022

Based around fruit from the increasingly excellent Mt. Pajaro vineyard, with 20% each from Horseshoe and Alpine – in other words absolutely stellar fruit sources – this SCM Chardonnay smells like shale and dry stones, with saline energy coursing through the bright citrus fruit. Open knit, yet with impressive tension and purity on the finish. This is a mountain grown Chardonnay whose proximity to the ocean is plain to see. These “village” bottlings from Rhys, the result of three or four selections, are increasingly fine.