2022 Ernest Vineyards Chardonnay Sonoma Coast 750 ml

Ernest Vineyards has become a darling of some of the top restaurants in the country—including MICHELIN two-starred Birdsong in San Francisco—because of the stunning quality and value they deliver. 

No bottle showcases that better than this Sonoma Coast bottling, which is sourced from a small number of sites that the winery keeps confidential. The results are stunning, with Burgundian aromatics of Honeycrisp apples, lemon peel, almond paste, fresh florals, all married to a smooth palate that starts ripe and finishes bright and refreshing. It’s a gorgeous pairing with Birdsong’s dungeness crab with embered yam, brain fat, and grilled shell cream—but will elevate any dish you can dream up. 

The sources of this wine, which Ernest tells us are close to the coast, are tougher to farm and lower-yielding than Sonoma Coast sites farther inland. The area is cooler and wetter, so vineyard management is more intensive, requiring a sharper eye toward spotting disease early and more proactive canopy management. Cooler weather during flowering means that yields are tiny—so that extra labor works an even smaller crop. Factor in the young vine Old Wente clone and old vine Clone 4 that make up the core of this wine, and yields are even smaller still.  

That’s why the area is home to a slew of triple-digit-priced Chardonnays. With the work required in the field, you have to aim every decision towards truly exceptional Chardonnay—there’s no middle ground. Producers either have to go big or go home. Ernest is no exception, and they’ve created a big winner here.