2017 Kendall Jackson Chardonnay Grand Reserve

Back in 1974, Jess Jackson saw in the fine vineyards of California’s cool coastal regions fruit with a variety of outstanding flavors. What if there was a way to produce from this abundance, a single outstanding “cuvée” that offered both quality and value? The result, first released in 1983, was Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay, a rich, round and flavorful wine, made with hand-crafted methods. That same year, Grand Reserve was introduced, a line of ultra-premium wines that represented the full potential of California’s finest vineyards and winemaking.

Today, over 5,000 acres of vineyard in California’s coastal regions are farmed by Kendall-Jackson. Four separate wineries house what is possibly the single largest barrel-fermentation project in the world. But perhaps most important, is that Kendall-Jackson remains a family-owned winery.

One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn’t like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.