100% Chardonnay

Food pairings: Slow-roasted salmon with a citrus-olive relish, grilled shrimp, sea bass with beurre blanc, and chicken or veal in a light cream or mushroom sauce.

Winemaking: The grapes were picked by hand at night and gently pressed as whole clusters. After settling overnight, the juice was fermented in barrel with indigenous yeast. The wine then aged for 13 months in French oak, 32% of it new, which adds hints of toasted almond and spice cake to the bright fruit. Benovia says it drinks well on release and will improve with a year or two in bottle.

Vineyards and terroir: The fruit comes mainly from Benovia's Martaella and Tilton Hill estate vineyards, with some from the Zio Tony vineyard. At both estates Benovia has planted the Old Wente and Mt. Eden heirloom clones of Chardonnay, which keep their bright acidity and show floral and mineral notes. In this part of the Russian River Valley, low-fertility soils and cool temperatures make an ideal home for Chardonnay. The 2022 vintage began warm and dry, and the vines woke early. The vineyard team protected the young shoots from a few spring frosts, and continuing drought kept yields small. Mild weather in May, June and July then gave wines with intense fruit and fine ripeness.

Family and history: Benovia was founded in 2005 by proprietors Mary Dewane and Joe Anderson with winemaker Mike Sullivan. The winery is on Hartman Road in Santa Rosa, in the heart of the Russian River Valley. Mary and Joe were raised on hard work by their fathers, Ben Dewane and Novian Anderson, and spent their first careers in healthcare serving the underserved, a priority they continue through community work as vintners. Mike Sullivan is a fifth-generation Californian who grew up in Sonoma County. He started in Dick Arrowood's cellar at Chateau St. Jean at 18 and trained under Helen Turley at Landmark before becoming head winemaker at Hartford Family Winery and then partnering with Joe and Mary. His aim at Benovia is to make wines that capture the essence of their place and their year.

In the pictures: An aerial view of Benovia's Tilton Hill Estate Vineyard among the forests and hills of western Sonoma County, and spring growth in the Zio Tony Ranch vineyard, one of the sources of this wine (photos: Benovia Winery).