2013 Foxen Winery Chardonnay Bien Nacido Vineyard Block UU Santa Maria Valley

Ginger and Spice: Meursault in the USA

While Chardonnay continues to be one of the most widely planted varieties in the world, there are very few places where the grape truly flourishes. In 2015, we tasted 273 Chardonnays. Most were Californian. Just 18 made the cut. What distinguished the winners from the losers?

Our Chardonnay palates were honed on the cool-climate, limestone hillsides of Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault. Great white Burgundy is never weakly defined or overly alcoholic (rarely topping 14%). The wines are tightly wound, crisp, and fresh. In youth, they’re infused with green apple, perhaps pear, but always a riveting ripe-citrus vibrancy, often tinged with honey. In the very best cases, there’s always this slight hint of ginger that, when married with lemon-tart intensity and beeswax, makes for the greatest and some of the most age-worthy white wines in the world.

From time to time, we discover Burgundian citronelle, apple, and honey on Sonoma Coast and Russian River. In rare cases, beeswax shares center stage. But almost never does the Northern California coastline offer that mouthwatering hint of ginger.

That hint of ginger is distinct to the Santa Barbara coast, where the mountains run east-west in lieu of north-south. Cold breezes off the Pacific temper the summer sun. Daytime highs tend to stay in the mid-70s, while starry nights are chilly. In the case of the most meticulously farmed blocks, and in the hands of the most talented Chardonnay makers, Santa Barbara’s single-vineyard Chardonnays take a brilliant page out of a Meursault script — none more riveting than the Foxen Boys’ brilliant “UU Block” off of storied Bien Nacido Vineyard.

The Bien Nacido Vineyard is set in chilly Santa Maria Valley (one of the coldest microclimates in California) at the western edge of the Santa Maria Bench, on alluvial terraces and hills above the Sisquoc River. Summer temperatures are moderated first by morning fog, then by stiff breezes off the Pacific. The soils are deep, comprised of silty clay loam and shale. Foxen’s Block UU is just 1.35 acres, first planted to Clone 4 in 1973. In cool vintages, Block UU Chardonnay tends to be “wound up,” infused with saline notes of oyster shell and citrus. But in unusually warm years like 2013, Foxen’s “UU” ripens effortlessly, making for one of California’s greatest challengers to white-Montrachet perfection.

Brilliant yellow-gold. Ultra-mineral scents of apricot and ripe lemon, with mouthwatering aromas of jasmine and spicy ginger. Rich, dense, racy and compact on entry, with a ripe core of lemon curd, Anjou pear, and honey, intense and persistent. The finish is textbook “UU,” spicy, pungent, piercing, and vibrant. Drink now-2024.

We ADORED this wine. At $27.99 per bottle, only the old-vine Pouilly-Fuissés chez Corsin, Cordier, and Château Fuissé stand tall. The 2013 “UU” is truly Meursault in the USA. Not to be missed by serious American Chardonnay or Burgundy collectors and enthusiasts. Shipping included on 6.

• ABV 14.30%
• Enjoy right away
• % Chardonnay