2023 QUPE CHARDONNAY SBC
Our 2023 Chardonnay displays classic cool-climate coastal notes of zesty green apple, lemon rind and juicy pineapple along with some notes of toasted brioche and orange marmalade. On the palate, the bright, lively acidity brings out citrus flavors of orange and lemon that linger throughout a long, bright finish.
VINE YARD
Qupé has been crafting cool-climate Chardonnay from Santa Barbara County for over 40 years. We know where the best fruit comes from and we leverage our long-term relationships to have our vineyard partners farm specific sites to our requirements – low yield, clean, unblemished fruit, all certified sustainable. We want this wine to speak of its cool-climate origins, while showcasing the diversity of Santa Barbara County. 60% of the wine comes from 30+ year old vines growing in the
sandy slopes of Santa Maria, where we find more solar energy in the wine in the form of pineapple, and orange marmalade. The remaining 40% is grown in the western reaches of the Sta. Rita Hills on sandy hills that deliver tiny, concentrated berries that yield the salty, citrusy side of Chardonnay with bright lemon and lime skin along with mineral notes. The final blend yields a quintessential Santa Barbara County Chardonnay.
WINEMAKING
As with all our Chardonnay bottlings, this wine was crafted with traditional methods in our modern, state of the art winery: hand harvesting at night to benefit from our cold evenings, small picks at a broad spectrum of ripeness to ensure maximum complexity, whole cluster pressing, cold settling in temperature controlled stainless tanks for 24-48 hours, then racked to a mix of new (15%) and
1-4 year old French Oak Burgundy barrels for fermentation and subsequent sur lees aging for 9-12 months. Malolactic fermentation is halted in 20% of the wine to help retain a bit of salty, malic acid for freshness and ageability. As bottling approaches, the wine is clean racked under nitrogen to tank for final blending and resting before bottling using our own bottling equipment.
"Embracing with warm spices and stone fruit, this chardonnay shows ripe persimmon and grilled apricots alongside toasty vanilla, baked yellow apples and candied lemons."
90 Points James Suckling