Santa Cruz Mountain Chardonnay is the New World equivalent of Chablis

Santa Cruz Mountain Chardonnay is the New World equivalent of Chablis

Santa Cruz Mountain Chardonnay acreage is probably no more than 5% of Chablis acreage, but to me it is as distinctive, as good, and as good value. I love Chardonnay immoderately, but between price and premox, I’ve gone very short on Cote de Beaune. I’ve barely dipped a toe into Alto Adige and Western Australia, have liked both, but haven’t had anything revelatory. Besides voting in the poll, comments are invited… especially if there’s something great, reasonably priced and ageworthy that I’m missing.

Dan Kravitz

Can’t speak to it’s equivalency to Chablis (as I’m just learning) but Mount Eden Chardonnay is likely my favorite California Chardonnay.

SC Chard can be very good but Chablis? No. Don’t get the sea spray, kimmeridgian chalk or saltiness.

Walter Scott Chardonnay

I drink both Chablis and SCM Chardonnay; mainly from Rhys, Raveneau and Dauvissat. You should add “drink both” as a poll option. According to CT stats I’ve consumed:

Raveneau 104 bottles
Dauvissat 92 bottles
Rhys 49 bottles

With the obvious caveat that my experience is very concentrated in just 3 producers, I don’t see the similarities other than the grape. Further, I would bet that in a lineup blind I could pick out the SCM wines most (80%) of the time. For my palate, SCM chardonnay (from Rhys anyway who I consider a leaner Burgundian style of producer) is much riper, richer and lacks the chalky texture and mouth puckering acidity that I frequently get with Chablis.

+1 re what Larry said, I drink and like both Chablis and SCM chards.

No, not at all, not even one iota.

Whoops!

Please note that I DID NOT SAY that these wines are similar. They are not remotely similar. If I can’t tell the difference in a two wine blind tasting, I’ll quit.

I said that they are equivalent, in the sense that both are amazingly distinctive, and quality, longevity and pricing are very comparable across the board.

Dan Kravitz

I don’t think that people answering the poll prior to your clarification read “equivalent” to mean only in the sense of the value they present as a Chardonnay choice. I (and I think others) read equivalent as fungible - they fill the same spot in your Chardonnay spectrum from a flavor and aging characteristic sense.

I think I answer no to both interpretations. I can spend lots more in Chablis than in Santa Cruz Mountains at the top end (and can sometimes justify reaching up for a great Raveneau). I certainly think the stylistic interpretation and site specificity are distinct. I think I do more Macon for fruity quaffs than I do Chablis and both of those are priced under anything I’m buying from Santa Cruz Mountains. I do drink a fair amount of Chardonnay from Oregon and have had a few from New Zealand that I found intriguing, but spotty in local availability. I’ve never gotten a look at the top stuff from Australia.

Cheers,
fred

There should be a mandatory training class before posting a poll.

Well played.

I agree that the word equivalent can be taken several ways, but as noted I did not state anywhere that the wines were similar. Perhaps there should be a literacy test required before readers are allowed to vote in a poll…



While the flavor profiles are quite different, both types of wine can serve well at table. While the flavors are wildly different, IMO they can share a texture profile, as well as offering comparable longevity (some Chablis reprehensibles excluded) and value.

Dan Kravitz

The Ridge Estate Chardonnay is one of my favorite chardonnays.

Maybe the right thing to say is that SCM Chardonnay is a good place to look if you dig Chablis and are open to trying new world whites. And that Chablis is a good place to look if you dig SCM Chardonnay and are open to trying French whites.

While I like some SCM chards, I find Chablis a much better value.

I live in the SCM and have tasted almost all the wares and to me there are only a few that deserve mention in the same breath as Chablis. 9 out of 10 are over-extracted fruity, buttery beasts. Very little restraint shown in general. Wes and I were at the SCM Grand tasting on Sunday and tasted many producers and not much to get excited about on the Chardonnay front.

Rhys, Mt Eden, and the Lester Family vineyards made by John Benedetti, and Alfaro all work for me but I’m struggling to think of another I like including Ridge. Willamette Valley, on the other hand, is a whole different matter and there are many great chardonnay producers producing some pretty epic Chardonnay for very reasonable dollars.

Sean

I drink both and like both but Santa Cruz Chardonnay is not Chablis or even close to one.

Ten/twenty years ago I would have considered SCM Chardonnay a valid category to consider for regular drinking. In the last ten years, the Willamette Valley has really got it’s Chardonnay mojo working, and the prices beat CA handily, not to mention that it can be much closer to Chablis in style when that is the winemaker’s intent.

The Ridge Chards take time to come around - maybe 10-15 years. Young, they taste pretty typical CA Chard. At their peak, they kick ass. I brought a '96 to an eBob OL a decade ago that was a sort of 'bring your best mature CA Chard". Hands-down favorite over a lot of big names, including Rhys.

Fogarty is impressive these days, but could use 5 years to show their best. Neely is among the best. John Benedetti put himself on the map with his own Chards (Sante Arcangeli). Respectable outsiders like Lioco, Ceritas, Martin Ray, Kutch, Betwixt, Trail Marker, Arnot-Roberts, Leo Steen, Ghostwriter make good/reportedly good ones.

Haven’t had Chaine d’Or from the current winemaker, but that’s a good vineyard. There’s probably 100 producers now, mostly small. Most are amateurish mom-n-pop operations. Back when I was tasting them extensively, there weren’t that many duds. Most were respectable, if rudimentary. They had the terroir and ripeness right, and weren’t screwed up by dumb trend-following decisions. They just weren’t near what they could be. (Though some would occasionally have the stars line up.)

There’s always something new going on - it’s impossible to keep up. Looking at CT, hardly any of the producers are even listed. I have a Madson on deck - if that’s anything like the reds I tried, I’ll be happy. I’m sure you’ll like Rob’s Chards.

I voted No because I think SCM Chardonnays are, generally, about as good as Chardonnay gets in the U.S… obviously, this is based on my experience, and there are some exceptions, and this is a personal preference opinion (I despise that online discussions require all these disclaimers). I don’t think Chablis is generally the pinnacle of French Chardonnay.