2012 Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay

Wine Review Online
“A Mouthful of Elegant Richness”
“This 2012 Chardonnay is the winery’s second vintage from that site, a cool vineyard site with decomposed granite soils and strong coastal influence, often covered in fog until noon. I liked the 2011 and in my mental comparison, I like the 2012 even more. This 2012 is full bodied and rich but not at all flamboyant. Although it has complex aromas and flavors — green apple, citrus skin, fresh herbs, nuts and quince — the flavors are gentle rather than loud.  One of the first impressions that you might have when you taste this wine is the sweetness and broadness of oak on the attack, but the wine does not have an explicit flavor of oak, and in fact no new oak was used in its production. Its taste is fundamentally fruity, with a nutty, leesy character that brings complexity to the fruit. And the wine’s texture is quite seductive — creamy texture that surrounds your tongue without ever becoming heavy, thanks to the wine’s vibrant acidity. The overall impression is a flavorful mouthful of elegant richness.

Ten Acre produced only 220 cases of this wine. If you are able to get your hands on a bottle, enjoy it now or soon, over the next two years or so; it is so lovely now that I don’t envision it gaining from age.  For food pairings, keep it simple: the taste of the wine is bringing tempting thoughts of skewered grilled swordfish and vegetables to my mind.

Personally, I plan to keep an eye on Ten Acre — its impressive Pinot Noirs, its beautiful Rosé of Pinot Noir, and of course its Chardonnays.” 90 Points
-Mary Ewing-Mulligan, July 2013

Wine Lines Online
“Light straw color. Crisp and steely in the nose, the wine delivers perfumed green apple with notes of fresh pineapple and lime. The initial juicy acidity in the mouth blossoms and becomes more rounded at mid-palate, and the crisp green apple flavors echo on the clean finish. The winemaker has aimed for a food-friendly, Chablis-style of Chardonnay that emphasizes the fruit and natural acidity of the grape, and has pulled it off marvelously. The wine saw no new oak; it was fermented and aged in a combination of stainless steel tanks and neutral oak. Enjoy it with a wide variety of roasted poultry, white fish and even sautéed shellfish dishes.” 90 Points
-Glen Frederiksen, July 2013

Wine Review Online
“A substantial thus fleshy California Chardonnay, with plenty of nutty, buttery flavors to enhance its primary fruit, this wine tastes above all else rich and satisfying. Its lush texture found an obvious counterpart in the smooth, silky sauce from the braise.”
-Paul Lukacs and Marguerite Thomas, March 2014

PinotFile
“First Encounters of Noteworthy Pinot Noir Producers in 2013”
2012 Ten Acre Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay
-Rusty Gaffney, December 2013