2022 BR Cohn Chardonnay Sangiacomo Vineyard Carneros 750 ml

Sangiacomo Vineyard is as responsible as any site for Carneros’ world-class Chardonnay reputation, and has the client roster to show for it. Rombauer, La Follette, Saxon-Brown, and Frank Family have all drawn off these famed vines, which is why we were thrilled to score B.R. Cohn’s creamy, fruit-driven classic 2022 Chardonnay from the site that put Carneros on the map. 

The Sangiacomo family’s history in California stretches back to 1927, when the Italian immigrant Vittorio Sangiacomo purchased a 52-acre fruit-tree ranch in Sonoma Valley. The family struggled through the Great Depression, but in the following decades became the largest pear growers in Sonoma County. As pear prices declined, the family, looking to diversify their plantings, decided to plant grapes. In 1969, the Green Acres Vineyard in Carneros was born. By 1981, the family had completed their transition to grape-growing, and today, their Green Acres Vineyard is prized for its Old Wente, Dijon, and Catarina clones of Chardonnay. 

As for Bruce Cohn—man, that guy must have some stories. As the manager of the Doobie Brothers throughout the 1970s, we can only imagine the debauchery he’s witnessed (and forgotten). He bought an old dairy in Glen Ellen in 1974 to get some peace, and before too long, Charlie Wagner of Caymus took him under his wing as Bruce shifted focus to grape growing. Helen Turley was his founding winemaker, and even Merry Edwards made wine here in the 1980s. 

This wine is young, and in a great spot right now. Anyone who loves classic, buttery Carneros Chardonnay—with some snap in its step to keep it lively—is going to love this wine.