Talbott Sleepy Hollow Vineyard Chardonnay 2016

(40% new French oak) Limpid yellow. A highly perfumed nose evokes fresh honeydew melon Meyer lemon pear nectar and white flowers and a smoky mineral nuance builds as the wine opens up. Sappy concentrated and incisive on the palate offering intense citrus and orchard fruit flavors and chamomile and saffron flourishes. A dusty mineral element adds vibrant lift and cut to the impressively long sharply delineated finish which leaves behind a suave floral note.

Lightly toasted almond, melted butter, chalk and Meyer lemon scents are delicately woven together in this expressive yet restrained bottling. There is well dispersed acidic energy throughout the palate, where smoked lemon flavors lead into sea salt and white flower notes on the finish.

An outstanding wine, the 2016 Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow Vineyard offers a touch of tropical fruit at first but shows more lemon, white flower, and honeysuckle notes with time in the glass. This medium-bodied white has integrated acidity and terrific balance, and is rock solid stuff. Drink it over the coming 3-5 years.