Great lovers of Burgundy wines, Fred and Eleanor Mc Crea, old publicists, decided to throw themselves into winemaking in the 1940s. In 1948, they planted their first vines of Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot blanc. This was followed by Gewurztraminer and Sémillon for the white wines and Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah for the reds. Their wines rapidly gained great success and customers could only get their hands on the wines by writing their names on an ever-growing waiting list.

Straight from Spring Mountain in the Napa Valley (California), this wine is an example of how newer wines can excel. Its producers, Elena and Fred McCrea, have developed a high-quality Chardonnay that has helped American cuvées make their way onto some of the world’s finest tables. The soil in which the vines grow is rocky, forcing them to push deeply in order to find water. Fermentation takes two weeks in old, French oak casks. Malolactic fermentation, however, is not involved, which is unusual for a Californian Chardonnay. This means that the wine is remarkably fresh. A 10-month maturation in French oak barrels is nonetheless carried out to bring an extra dimension to the wine. In the glass, Santa Helena is golden in colour, suggesting an intensity that we find immediately on the nose. Between the notes of peach, apricot and vanilla, we get hints of the oak maturation, though this isn’t at all off-putting. Lively and complex, the Stony Hill Chardonnay develops a wonderful floral and mineral bouquet after several years of aging – it will be at its peak after around 5 years.