2022 Arista Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard

The wine world was all buzzing about this wine. In 2012 Winemaker Matt Courtney jumped ship leaving Marcassin to become winemaker for Arista a Sonoma based, family owned Winery that specializes in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and the hunt was on. Marcassin is the quintessential California Chardonnay. It is the benchmark for California and extremely expensive and impossible to get, maybe a bottle here and a bottle there. I have been trying to get my hands on the Arista Chardonnays ever since. Matt Courtney is a rock star winemaker also making wines at Martinelli with Helen Turley and Robert Biale in Napa. Just yesterday I Tasted Arista’s Chardonnays and they are too die for. They again have become impossible to get. These are some of the finest Chardonnay being made in California. The Wine Spectators comments that Arista’s wines should be at the top of your wine wish list. The wines are made using the same traditional Burgundian methods he learned at Marcassin, without fining or filtration. These wines have a depth and length like great Grand Cru Burgundy but are richer and rounder typical of California.