Pali - 'Wild Series' - Chardonnay - Sta. Rita Hills, Sta. Rita Hills, CA - 2024

@paliwineco

Notes from the Winery/Importer

Pét nat method, rosé of pinot noir from Pali Vineyard

Notes on the Producer

Family owned and operated since 2005. Pali Wine Co. crafts expressive, small-lot wines from its Sta. Rita Hills estate, including Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Gamay, Dornfelder, and Syrah. Neighborhood is the sketchbook of our winery. Natural wines shaped by Los Angeles, rooted in Santa Barbara county winemaking.

Grapes & Style

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is one of the great white grapes of Burgundy, and one of the most widely planted wine grapes in the world. It has a long history in eastern France, especially Burgundy and Champagne, and DNA work shows it as part of the same broad Pinot and Gouais Blanc family that gave us grapes like Gamay and Aligoté. It’s adaptable, easy enough to grow in many places, and capable of producing everything from simple everyday whites to some of the most ageworthy white wines in the world.

In the vineyard, Chardonnay buds and ripens relatively early, which makes it useful in cooler climates but vulnerable to spring frost. It tends to do especially well on limestone and calcareous clay, and its relatively neutral fruit profile gives site and cellar choices a lot of room to show. Malolactic fermentation, lees aging, barrel fermentation, and oak can all shape the final wine dramatically.

In the glass, Chardonnay can be lean, saline, and citrus-driven, or broad, textured, and orchard-fruited, depending on where it’s grown and how it’s made. Chablis shows the steely, high-acid side; the Côte de Beaune shows depth, texture, and savory complexity; Champagne shows its value as a sparkling-wine base. Good Chardonnay is less about one fixed flavor than about balance, texture, and the way it carries place.