Vintage Tyler Sandford & Benedict Chardonnay 2015

Winemaker Justin Willet’s inspiration has come from local winemakers and European producers such as Roulot, Bonneau du Martray, Dujac, Bachelet and Rousseau. The Tyler wines are vinified from grapes that tend to be picked earlier than most with the aim of achieving bright aromatics and fresh flavours with modest use of oak.

Tyler is fortunate to have access to some of the most prized vines in the USA, and none more-so than the original and oldest (1971) own-rooted Chardonnay plantings in the Sanford & Benedict vineyard. This is as definitive, complex, and pleasurable as it gets for Chardonnay from the USA with striking minerality and quality that is up there with top Burgundy estates.

This is a wine that is focused more on structure than in displaying fruit. It is intensely mineral with a slatey texture. A nose of flinty struck match, mineral but rich at the same time. Incredibly layered and complex with flavours of pear, almond cream. Lemon zest and citrus fruits provide tangy and juicy acidity. The wine is beautifully poised; perfumed, elegant and easy to appreciate yet at the same time it has a brilliant presence, with a bright, extremely long saline finish to play off its natural richness. For us, this is one of the jewels in the crown for modern, top quality USA chardonnay.