Eden Rift Valliant Chardonnay 2018
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James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wilfred
Wong -
Jeb
Dunnuck
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The 2018 vintage represents a classic Central Coast growing season; whereby the cooling summer fog and winds of the Pacific Ocean allowed for elongated hang-times and flavor development. This Chardonnay showcases the brilliance of Eden Rift’s mountain estate. It is bright with notes of exotic citrus, pear tart, lemon zest, orange cream, white flowers, and mineral notes. On the palate, it is richly textured yet replete with acidity.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Crushed stone with sliced-apple and citrus undertones on the nose and palate. It’s medium-bodied with fresh acidity and a vivid finish. Lean and crisp.
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Wine Enthusiast
Toasty aromas of fine grained oak join with Asian pear, yellow rose and grapefruit pith on the nose of this bottling. The palate shows plenty of grippy texture, offering tangerine peel, seared apple flesh, a pinch of salt and an oaky tightness.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Eden Rift Vineyards Valliant Chardonnay stays long and satisfying on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine shines with aromas and flavors of savory spices and tart apples. Enjoy it with pan-fried fillet of sole. (Tasted: January 9, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
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Jeb Dunnuck
Pretty apple, spice, and lemon notes emerge from the 2018 Chardonnay Central Coast. It's impressive on the palate, offering medium-bodied richness, terrific overall balance, a kiss of toastiness, and a great finish. It's ideal for drinking over the coming couple of years
Other Vintages
2019-
Wilfred
Wong
Named one of Wine & Spirits Magazines Top 100 Wineries of 2023
In the careful hands of early pioneers when California was still under Mexico’s flag, Eden Rift is one of the oldest continually operating estates in the US and is home to some of the earliest New World Pinot Noir plantings in 1861. The property’s first vineyards were planted in 1849 by a Bordeaux wine merchant. As the estate came into new ownership, the wines produced swept national and international competitions. Since then, the estate has changed hands several times, at one point producing wines under the label Valliant, belonging to the internationally known Hiram Walker House.
Today, the current proprietor of the estate, Christian Pillsbury, lives in the Dickinson House, a residence on the property fenced in by original Zinfandel plantings from 1906. Drawn to purchase the estate because of a personal connection, Pillsbury sees himself as chaperone of a place deeply important to the lineage of California wine. Before purchasing, Christian and his team researched the property’s daily temperature rhythms, soil, wind patterns and macro and micro climates to find the winery’s main focus, which has come to be Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. In addition to wine, the Eden Rift Estate also houses a granite stone mill that produces certified organic olive oil and is open to neighboring wineries for use on their own olive oil production.
With Christian’s vision in toe, he teamed up with venerable winemaker, Cory Waller. Cory is no stranger to American Pinot Noir, having studied under Napa’s Tony Soter and Oregon’s Josh Bergstrom and Jim Prosser. He was also assistant winemaker at the iconic California winery, Calera. Cory is well suited to the uber local project. Born and raised nearby, he boasts local farmers, ranchers and fishermen as some of his closest friends. His winemaking style limits intervention while focusing in the vineyard on vine stress and low yields. Since Christian’s purchase, Eden Rift has received attention from both local and National publications in its first two vintages.
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.
The largest and perhaps most varied of California’s wine-growing regions, the Central Coast produces a good majority of the state's wine. This vast California wine district stretches from San Francisco all the way to Santa Barbara along the coast, and reaches inland nearly all the way to the Central Valley.
Encompassing an extremely diverse array of climates, soil types and wine styles, it contains many smaller sub-AVAs, including San Francisco Bay, Monterey, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley.
While the Central Coast California wine region could probably support almost any major grape varietiy, it is famous for a few Central Coast reds and whites. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel are among the major ones. The Central Coast is home to many of the state's small, artisanal wineries crafting unique, high-quality wines, as well as larger producers also making exceptional wines.