2019 Martinelli Bella Vigna Chardonnay

No professional reviews on this, but here are a couple of the (extremely positive) CellarTracker reviews:

Really beautiful drinking chardonnay right now. Tropical fruit up front with a decent amount of acidity and yet a creamy backbone to it. Lovely pear notes at the mid palate and finish.

Comes from Fort Ross - Seaview. 6th generation just started working at the winery. One of the oldest family-owned businesses in California. Everything comes from grapes that they grow. They sell 90% of their fruit to other wineries. Full and round here.

Full bore and powerful chardonnay fruit on the nose. Three or sometime four vineyard sites blended together. For some reason, rather complex to me in its powerfully molded self. Rich and nutty on the palate, with some richness across the palate.

Great reviews on Vivino, too – which lists this 2019 vintage at a whopping $88 from their preferred store. I like how one of their reviewers described it:  Not a butter bomb but a New World butter kiss.

This is pretty much as delicious as Sonoma Coast Chardonnay gets.

Here, also, is a cool story from when superstar winemaker Helen Turley was helping Lee Martinelli plant his vineyards in 1992:

Turley: “This is a Grand Cru vineyard site.”

Martinelli: “This is where I pig hunt.”

Turley (again): “It’s a Grand Cru vineyard site.”

Martinelli: “But it’s where I pig hunt.”

Turley: “Lee, put in the vineyard and the pigs will come.”

She was right on both counts. The vineyard is now a true Grand Cru of the Sonoma Coast…and the wild boars love to eat its grapes.