(2024) Quintessa's white comes from their vineyard planted in 2002, but blends 60% Napa and 40% Sonoma fruit. The blend itself consists of 58% Sauvignon Blanc, 32% Sauvignon Blanc Musqué (a fragrant clone of Sauvignon) and 10% Sémillon. Initial impression is of great succulence, ripe and juicy pear, creamy lemon curd and a hint of nettle. There is a tiny grace note of something rosemary-like. In the mouth it is supple and quite firm. It was fermented with wild yeast, and made in a combination of oak and acacia barrels, steel tanks and concrete eggs, so there is a little spice and a taut, flinty and steely character that plays beautifully against sweet mid-palate fruit with a tang of grapefruit in the finish. It is being sold en primeur at £252 per six at time of review.

(2018) A nicely clean and fresh style, slightly more open than the other Chardonnays, opening to good fruit and creamy golden oak notes. A touch of flintiness. Really drinking well, the balance is all you could look for when marrying Californian sunshine with astute and careful winemaking. Precise.

(2018) Fruit goes straight to press as whole clusters and then to barrel for fermentation, which normally takes 4 to 6 weeks. The wine goes through malolactic, but there is no lees stirring. After one year the wine is decanted to steel for an additional six months. Andy says some herbal element in this wine is encouraged by close planting and a slightly shaded canopy. This wine is both a vineyard selection and barrel selection with a lower pH (higher acidity) than might be found in white Burgundy for example. Very subtle oak, just an oatmeal sheen and a touch of lime and apple skins, a little wild yeast lightly earthy character, there is a fruit skin grip and texture, notable acidity and grip, fullness and an orange zest tang, really nicely balancing grip and richness with steely freshness.

(2018) A blend of two vineyards, Ritchie (66%) and Lorenzo, one sandy and giving full, rich fruit, one clay and giving more lean structure. Same vinification as the Estate wine. Slightly broader, more creamy character,  a little more toast and almond, the fruit still keen and citrussy, but that nuttiness and softness differentiates. Much more ripeness and golden, luxurious Chardonnay character, but still plenty of grip and acid freshness.

(2018) This contains a proportion of Hyde fruit, from the Wente Clone. Absolutely delicious golden Chardonnay, with deep buttery notes but such delicious freshness, creamy ripe and so moreish, the slippery texture and ripeness making this hugely drinkable, nutty and citrus fresh in the finish. A wine with a huge instant gratification quotient: great drinkability and balance.

(2018) From the famous Hyde vineyard, this block planted in 1982 and organically farmed. A wine that took 10 months to complete fermentation according to Andy, in Chassin-coopered barrels. Deep and 'dirtier' aromas, lots of earthy almost chocolate aromas here, wild herbs and some juicy tangerine quality, but again the zipping freshness of the acidity and note of flint is thrilling. What a layered and complex, terroir-driven Chardonnay.