2019 Dragonette Cellars Chardonnay Duvarita Vineyard Santa Barbara County

In the 2019 vintage, a whopping 19 of Wine Advocate’s top 24 California Chardonnays came from just four producers. You know the names—and you can bet most, if not all, will cost you well into triple digits. 

That’s why Dragonette Cellars, which Antonio Galloni of Vinous dubbed “truly world-class,” has been one of our go-to secrets for years.

Dragonette’s 2019 Chardonnay Duvarita Vineyard crashes California’s insular, top-flight Chardonnay party with stunning scores: 95+ from Wine Advocate and 95 from Vinous. Golden-hued, vibrant, and flawlessly balanced, it’s a bottle that we would proudly pour alongside the Auberts and the Peter Michaels of the world.

Duvarita is one of the Central Coast’s closest vineyards to the Pacific Ocean. Sitting on a south-facing slope in sandy soils, the vines bask in coastal fog and cleansing Pacific winds, which exert a moderating influence. 2019 was a mild season that afforded long hang-times, so the vineyard yielded Chardonnay boasting vibrant acidity, full phenolic ripeness, and power without weight. 

“Duvarita is basically an ancient sand dune,” John Dragonette told us. “In addition to his use of low-input biodynamic farming, the owner, Brook Williams, is now doing no-till regenerative farming. This is as organic and good for the earth as winegrape-growing gets.”

Duvarita is windy and close to the coast, but absolutely drenched in sunshine: The south-facing site looks right at the sun all day, and John contends that it would surely be considered a Premier or Grand Cru if it were in Burgundy. 

This bottle shows just how great the site is, how excellent the Dragonette team is at expressing it, and how much Chardonnay elegance you can get for a shockingly reasonable sum.

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Sweetness
• Acidity

• ABV 14.50%
• 15 mins
• Now – 2032
• % Chardonnay
• Serving temperature – 50°
• Cork