California Chardonnay has changed. A lot. You wouldn’t know it to look at the typical supermarket “shelf set,” but if you’re still looking at the category as one big mass of oaky, buttery, vaguely sweet white wines, you’re really missing out. 
If we were in a restaurant, I’d call today’s Chardonnay from LIOCO a “hand-sell,” because it would take a little extra song and dance on my part to convince some people—namely, Euro-centric wine snobs like myself—to try it. I once had to be convinced myself, and I was, and continue to become more so with each vintage: A new generation of California (and Oregon) Chardonnays is showing that the New World can do minerality, freshness, and detail, too. This was the stated mission when wine importer Matt Licklider and onetime Spago Wine Director Kevin O’Connor created LIOCO in 2005. Theirs is the itinerant, vineyard-first model that has fueled the success of many “new California” wine ventures, and if you visit their website you’ll see their far-flung roster of grower-partners profiled like the heroes they are. Sourced from three Russian River Valley vineyards and brimming with purity and cool-climate energy, this wine is a sincere—and successful—effort to deliver varietal character and a sense of place without any adornments. If you love white Burgundy, this is something distinct that’s still very much in your wheelhouse.
As is typical of the LIOCO range of Chardonnays, today’s 2017 combines citrusy freshness with a deceivingly layered, creamy palate. The wine underwent a long, slow fermentation over the course of nine months in large, used oak casks; it remained on its lees but was not subjected to any bâtonnage, and was later transferred to stainless steel tanks, where it settled for a few months before it was gently filtered and bottled. According to Licklider, that time in stainless steel put the wine into a “reductive” (oxygen-deprived) state, something that has become very fashionable both in Burgundy and California as a means of preserving freshness and fruit purity. So, let this bottle breathe for a bit before serving and watch it come alive in the glass: It pours a deep straw-yellow with flecks of gold and green, with aromas of salt-preserved lemon, yellow apple, Anjou pears, winter citrus, a hint of fresh cream, honeysuckle, and fennel. The palate is a layered medium-plus, but racy and refreshing as well—well-balanced and mouthwatering, with enough weight for roast chicken but likely more appealing with some shrimp scampi or maybe the attached salad, which leapt to mind as I tasted this sunny and snappy Californian white. Yes, we can, California! Time to get on board!