2014 LIOCO Chardonnay Sonoma County

Dollar for Dollar: The New York Times’ Top Chardonnay of 2015

Those of you living in Biloxi, Little Rock, or Twin Falls, where it’s more difficult to get one’s hands on the Thursday New York Times, may not know the work of wine columnist Eric Asimov. As most of America’s newspapers cut loose their highest-paid journalists, the Times has done its best to stick to its guns, continuing to pay the freight for talent like Asimov’s.

In the Northeast Corridor, however, where the Times remains an important element of everyday life, Asimov’s recommendations send wholesalers into a tizzy, as retailers order stacks of The New York Times’ favorites. Such was the case on April 30th, 2015, when the most influential newspaper wine journalist in the country published a thoughtful story about the state of California Chardonnay.

Asimov began with a history lesson, reminding readers of the early 1990s and a movement called A.B.C. — Anything But Chardonnay.The A.B.C. naysayers claimed that Chardonnay had not only been planted in regions that were far too warm for the variety, but also that all too many examples were transparently sweet with residual sugar readings topping 4 grams/liter (experienced tasters detect residual sugar at just 2 g/l) — wines that Asimov described as being like “buttered popcorn and fruit cocktail.”

Over the last two decades, the tide has largely shifted. A band of young and veteran winemakers in Russian River and Sonoma Coast, enamored of the mineral richness and intensity of Chablis and Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune, are working with cool-climate vineyards, where Chardonnay can be treated to extended hang-time without any risk of acid fallout.

Dollar for dollar, the most brilliant of all, the Times concluded, is this stunning 2014 from Matt Licklider and Kevin O’Connor’s LIOCO.

Drawn from four cool-climate vineyards — Goldridge, Teac Mor, Piner Road, and Stuhlmuller — the 2014 LIOCO Chardonnay Sonoma County is a beauty. Brilliant green-gold. Piercing mineral-accented aromas of ripe apple and fresh pear, with delicate high tones and vibrancy. Rich, supple, and broad on the attack, tightening in the mid-palate, the core offers a wound-up mix of orchard pit, apricot, apple, and pear, with surprising mineral complexity for a Chardonnay at this price point. Finishes with firm, stony crispness. Drink now-2020.

600 bottles. $22. Shipping included on 6 . What are you WAITING for???

• ABV 13.60%
• Enjoy right away
• % Chardonnay