On release, the Queen of the Earth wines—but the Chardonnay, in particular—can be intensely built and substantial. With time, the components ameliorate and become one, and it all makes more sense. The thing that we can be certain of, at all stages of life, is the fruit quality. The seamless flow of flavor from front to back shows a depth of understanding of site and production that translates eloquently in the glass. The 2020 Queen of the Earth Chardonnay is ripe and complex but shows none of the warmth of the season. It is intense and restrained and littered with white peach, preserved citrus, maritime briney things (kelp, jetties, moss and shore) and white tea. There are crushed nuts aplenty and loads of exotic spice. This is an elegant, super wine. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2014 Queen of the Earth Chardonnay is savory and powerful, yet it has earthy, authentic feels embedded in the fruit—lichen and kelp, limestone and garden herbs, green apples, brine, lemongrass and white tea. It is a convergence of rivers in a stony bed, a crash of tides off-shore... it's evocative. The acidity is briney and entrenched in the fruit, the fruit is full, unfettered and yet restrained, and the phenolics are the thing that shape and retain the flavor through the finish. It's a wine that extracts pondering thoughts from the head of the drinker, a wine of place. I enjoyed tasting it, and I enjoyed writing about it. It's a satisfying flex. It is distinct. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2011 Queen of the Earth Chardonnay leads with toffee apple and honeycomb, brine and crushed nuts. In the mouth, the fruit swells with coffee grounds, toasted cashew, almond meal, preserved citrus and jasmine tea. It is significant in size and stature, and the impact of it on the mouth is also a big deal. It is evolving, complex and flowing. There are notes of lichen, sun-dried kelp and coastal spray, granite rocks on the shore during a summer storm. This has developed into a graceful wine that is moving through the years at pace but without rushing. The acid keeps it tethered to the tracks. It has a lovely texture—chalky. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.