La Follette Zephyr Farms Chardonnay Sonoma Coast 2020 (750ml) *

The Sonoma Coast sits close enough to the Pacific to keep its Chardonnay bright, and this single-vineyard bottling from La Follette leans into that cooler-climate framing. Sourced from Zephyr Farms fruit and made in a ripe but structured style, the 2020 shows off what the appellation does with the grape when the fruit is allowed to fill out.

Pale straw in the glass, it opens on tangerine, honeysuckle, and ripe melon, then fills in with peach and a savory note of hazelnut. It sits somewhere between medium and full in weight, supple across the palate, with a faintly pithy grip on the finish that keeps the ripeness in check. Drinking well over the next few years.