Calera Wine Company

Calera, in San Benito County’s Mt. Harlan AVA, is far better known for Pinot Noir than for Chardonnay. Founder Josh Jensen had a spent a couple of years in Burgundy after earning his master’s at Oxford, and he came to believe that limestone was essential to growing high-quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Once he found a proper site, Pinot Noir became the focus at Calera, but the vineyard’s limestone soils yield distinctive Chardonnay fruit as well.

This wine comes from a 6.1-acre parcel planted with Chardonnay vines that are on their own roots. The vineyard, planted in 1984, yielded less than 2 tons per acre of fruit in 2003 with a lovely minerality that’s reminiscent of Burgundy. This wine is leaner and racier than most California Chardonnays, with lemon, grapefruit and cherimoya flavors, mineral accents and some well-integrated oak (about 30 percent of the barrels were new). I think this $25 wine is delicious with shellfish – I drank it recently with Dungeness crab and melted butter – and I can imagine it with some nice briney oysters or grilled scallops.

Reviewed February 2, 2007 by Laurie Daniel.