2020 Tessier Camino Alto Skin-Contact Chardonnay

The Tessier homepage, with a provocative image the 1965 film Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and the Velvet Underground line, “Here she comes, you better watch your step,” tells you a lot about Kristie.  She is fierce, and not afraid to flex her power, or her femininity. She’s also incredibly smart. I mean, really, smart -- as in “former microbiologist who worked on the Human Genome Project” smart. In 2006, she left the field of science for wine, but never lost the discipline, bringing that scientific precision and geekiness to her winemaking.

Kristie started her own project in 2009, working with a handful of family-farmed vineyards in NorCal, and at first, played it safe with more conventional California-style wines.  But as she’s learned and grown more confident, she has moved over to the natty side. But first she is a scientist, so although the wines are made in a very low-intervention way, they are clean, precise and balanced.

This is high elevation, skin-contact, UNOAKED Chardonnay that will change the way you think about Chardonnay!  Kristie says had something similar on a trip to Beaujolais in 2019,  and came home inspired to make her own version, which also happens to be the inaugural Chardonnay for Tessier.  Glowing a hazy golden yellow color, this wine smells warm and spicy but the palate is all golden delicious apple, chamomile flowers and a touch of honeycomb with perky acidity and a long, clean finish.  An excellent and versatile food wine.