The 2018 Santa Cruz Mountains bottling of chardonnay from Alesia is truly superb and this is definitely the finest bottling of this cuve?e that I have tasted, with the quality really right up there with some of the earlier vintages of Alpine or Horseshoe Vineyards chardonnay from Rhys. Of course, this is younger vine fruit from those same vineyards, so it is not surprising how good this wine is in 2018. It comes in at 12.7 percent alcohol and delivers superb aromatic complexity in its refined blend of apple, pear, passion fruit, beautiful minerality, citrus blossoms, refined vanillin oak and a touch of fresh nutmeg in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, complex and very well-balanced, with bright, zesty acids, lovely focus and grip and a long, complex and utterly refined finish. Alesia never tasted so good! 2020-2030.