Paul Lato East of Eden Pisoni Vineyard Chardonnay 2016

This resplendent wine nearly glows in the glass as aromas of stone fruit, wet granite, and sea water emerge. The mouthfeel is extraordinarily encompassing, leaving tingles of fresh lemon and ambrosia apple at the finish. As usual for fruit from the low-yielding Pisoni Vineyard, this white has real muscle but remains elegant, and is deeply satisfying in that balance.

Gary Pisoni is a legend. Stories of his life could easily be featured in John Steinbeck’s novels or made into an epic Hollywood movie. Old-fashioned deals through handshakes and eye-to-eye contact with Gary, his wife Margarette, and his sons, Mark, the vineyard manager, and Jeff, the winemaker for Pisoni, are quintessential of the family’s style of business. This privileged, sun and windswept location has a most unique vibration that brings one back to the pioneering years of the California West. The combination between the site, the French clone brought in a suitcase from a famous “Grand Cru” vineyard in Burgundy gives the wine a full-bodied, exuberant and complex style with rich dark berry aromas.