2021 Whitcraft Winery, Chardonnay, Zotovich Vineyard, Sta. Rita Hills.
Drake Whitcraft’s Whitcraft Winery, based in the Santa Barbara, is one of California’s top wineries for small hand crafted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines, and this Zotovich Chardonnay shows why he has a very fanatic following, even with Burgundy purists, with its mineral toned character and notable low alcohol style. The steely fresh 2021 Zotovich Chardonnay thrills the palate with loads of energy and precision, its medium bodied palate showing off crisp apple, Bosc pear, lemon oil, white flowers, a touch of reductive flint, wet stones, clove, subtle cream and hazelnut layers. Whitcraft says the Zotovich Vineyard has sandy soil, like walking on a beach, with some fine dusty clay mixed in, and he notes for this wine it is all clone 76, it is a place of cool Pacific winds and produces exceptional grapes with lots of saline and vibrant acidity, but also wonderful fruit density, as seen here in this fabulous 2021 vintage. Because Whitcraft does such an amazing set of Pinot Noir wines, sometimes the Chardonnays get overlooked, which I maybe have done myself, but this wine definitely caught my attention with its Burgundy like excellence and elegance, and it should age delightfully for another 5 to 10 years. The Whitcraft Chards typically see a gentle pressing to barrel for a natural fermentation and aging in used French oak, with low intervention to allow terroir nuance and transparency to shine through. With this wine coming at under 12.5%, it has verve of a fine Chablis Premier Cru and is brilliant with our coastal inspired cuisine.
Whitcraft Winery has been handcrafting and, as the winery notes, unadulterated wines in Santa Barbara, California since 1985, originally with Chris Whitcraft as the winemaker and now with his son Drake making the wines, after his dad passed unexpectedly in June of 2014, just before the harvest of this wine. Chris himself was influenced by some legends, with the winery explaining that he learned his craft from some of the best winemakers in California, including Joe Heitz (Heitz Cellars), Dick Graff (Founded Chalone Winery and its AVA), and Burt Williams (Williams Selyem & Morning Dew Ranch) to name a few. Since Drake took over he has made a name for himself, being part of awesome generation of winemakers in the state that are doing honest and authentic wines, in much the same mold of Jason Drew, who also cut his teeth in the Santa Barbara area before moving his Drew Family Cellars to the Anderson Valley. Drake who got a great education from his father, as well as some of the big stars of the Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Santa Ynez and Sta. Rita Hills regions, like the late Jim Clendenen of ABC, but has adopted his own winemaking style and stamped his name as one of the biggest talents in the area. His winemaking sees a lot of whole cluster, sustainable and organic grapes and mostly neutral wood aging, which is old world influenced, looking to retain energy and allow for purity in the wines. Whitcraft says that his signature varietals are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, as seen here, and Syrah, but he does some good alternative wines as well, like Grenache, Gamay and Trousseau, all of which I highly recommend.
($50 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive