2020 Michel-Schlumberger "Platinum Collection" Chardonnay Dry Creek Valley

Michel-Schlumberger began with a singular vision. In 1979, Swiss native Jean-Jacques Michel traveled across Northern California searching for a site capable of delivering both power and finesse. He found it in Dry Creek Valley, where the climate, soils, and contoured exposures of Wine Creek Canyon offered rare conditions for expressive red wines. From the start, the focus was clear: craft distinctive Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Pinot Blanc shaped by site rather than excess.

In 1991, Jacques Pierre Schlumberger joined the estate, bringing with him more than 400 years of winemaking heritage from Alsace, France. That partnership gave rise to the Michel-Schlumberger identity, blending Old World discipline with a distinctly Californian sense of place. Over time, the winery earned international recognition for wines defined by balance, structure, and clarity.

The estate’s 61 acres of benchland and hillside vineyards, located just 17 miles from the Pacific Ocean, benefit from a subtle coastal influence that promotes slow, even ripening. Careful spacing, trellising, and clone selection allow each site to express its character, producing wines that are elegant, polished, and unmistakably Dry Creek Valley.

Sustainability remains central to the estate’s philosophy, reinforced by a solar energy system that powers the winery and underscores its long-term commitment to the land.

Platinum Collection is the barrel-selection tier. For this Chardonnay they pulled seven barrels of Robert Young clone off the benchland block. Three more came off the mountaintop, clone 76. Rich fruit from the first, cut and structure from the second. Two hundred twenty-four cases, and that is all of it.

The fruit came in on cool mornings and went straight to press. Settled juice was racked to French oak and fermented cold in barrel. Half the wine went through malolactic, enough for the creamy weight without going flabby. Ten months in oak, only three barrels new.