Chardonnay, 2018. Black's Station

Black's Station comes from one of our favorite suppliers, Matchbook. It seems they just can't do anything wrong over there. Situated in Yolo County's Dunnigan Hills, just East of Napa, they single-handedly made it an appellation nearly 40 years ago with their first brand, R.H. Phillips. It later became one of the top 10 selling wines in America.

Our selection is named after J.J. Black who was, apparently, pretty much the town of Zamora itself back in the late 1800s. He owned a hotel, two stores, a jail, blacksmith shop and town hall and we're sure he would have been a member of the Wine of the Month Club if we were around then.

Matchbook is owned by the Giguiere Family who first planted grapes here in 1973. Since grapes had never been planted in Yolo, they knew it was a gamble. What they didn't know was just how successful they would become. Within 20 years they had developed 3,000 acres and were a household name.

In 2000, they sold the winery and decided to retire on the beach in Northern California. Obviously, that didn't last long because when a sheep ranch came on the market in Yolo, they grabbed it and here we are, 1,600 acres later with Black's Station.

The grapes for our Black's Station are grown just three miles from Zamora. It is a creamer, softer style than their other Chardonnays, but still has the grit to match chicken cordon bleu or a lobster pasta.

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