100% Chardonnay

Food pairings: Roast chicken and other poultry, creamy pastas, fresh seafood and surf and turf.

Winemaking: The grapes are whole-cluster pressed to minimize astringency from the skins and the juice goes straight to stainless steel. Once settled, a portion is fermented in small French oak barrels and the rest in stainless-steel tanks. The slow, cool fermentation builds a balance of ripe tropical fruit with crisp apple and mineral notes. After primary fermentation, part of the wine goes through malolactic fermentation for a softer, rounder texture, and the wine is aged on its lees with regular stirring. It is bottled under screw cap.

Vineyards and terroir: The California Series is Sean Minor's line of wines for everyday enjoyment. The family works alongside experienced, sustainable growers in California's leading appellations to make wines that are true to their grape variety, and this Chardonnay is a blend of sustainably farmed California fruit.

Family and history: Sean and Nicole Minor met as students at Arizona State University and founded their winery in 2005, originally as Four Bears Winery, named after their four children. Kansas-born Sean, who grew up around his family's farms, had worked in the wine industry since 1988 and makes the wines, while Nicole runs the marketing. Still family owned and based in Sonoma, Sean Minor Wines set out to make affordable wines that over-deliver, good enough for any weeknight yet worthy of a special occasion, and the Minors' daughter Elle, a Cal Poly graduate, joined as winemaker in 2023.

In the pictures: Ripening Chardonnay grapes in a Healdsburg vineyard in Sonoma County, August 2024 (photo: Sarah Stierch, CC0).