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The Poppy Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay 2019 is a wine I found for $13.99 and it is the house brand for Monterey Wine Company, a custom wine producer. This is a single vineyard wine with grapes from the Poppy Hillside Vineyard.
The Santa Lucia Highlands AVA is located on the western foothills of the Salinas Valley which runs at a 45-degree line southeast of Monterey Bay, a cool, dry growing region. Big Sur and Carmel are in the general area, so this country is beautiful.
The 2019 vintage is the current release which shows some extended aging for a drink-it-now Chardonnay. You would expect a current release to be 2021 or even 2022. The extra age is not a problem since these wines to expected to last for 5 to 7 years after release. The website for Poppy is up-to-date, so they may only produce the Poppy Chardonnay in years that they have excess grapes.
The Poppy Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay 2019 was made with 3 different production styles. The first is the juice was fermented cold and slow in stainless steel vats. The 2nd is the juice was fermented war in small oak barrels with malolactic fermentation and “on-lees” aging. In the 3rd method, the juice was fermented in stainless steel vats with French oak added to the vat (they didn’t specify but it could be oak barrel slats or oak chips) with halfway malolactic fermentation.
The final blend was mostly method 3 followed by method 2 and then method 1, I am not sure of the percentages because the amount shown in their tech notes added up to 150%.
The Poppy Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay 2019 should show complexity and flavor beyond its price range with its triad of production techniques. The alcohol content is 13.9%.
The Poppy Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay 2019 Tasting Notes
The color is somewhere between butter yellow and gold. The nose is lemon, melon, and apple, along with French cream, peach, and pear. The Poppy Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay 2019 is sleek and rich. This is a Chardonnay that is creamy rather than buttery.
This Chardonnay tastes like a stew of lemon, peach, and green apple, with a touch of spice, and guava. The mid-palate brings vanilla cream, stone fruit, grapefruit, and a salty/nutty sensation.
The acidity gives this Chardonnay good length and lets the flavors unfold.
The Summary
- The Poppy Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay 2019 is an interesting value-priced wine, it has good flavor and excellent structure.
- A single vineyard Chardonnay with complex production selling for under $15 is a bargain.
