The 2010 Chardonnay Bent Rock seems to open up in all directions. Endless layers of fruit flesh out in the glass. Despite the wine’s considerable intensity and sheer volume, there is more than enough underlying minerality to give structure and, most importantly, a sense of proportion. This is one of the bigger Chardonnays in the Sandhi lineup. Fresh, floral notes add a sense of lift on the close. Balance reigns supreme in the Bent Rock. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2018. Sandhi is one of the most exciting new projects in California. The brainchild of investor Charles Banks, sommelier Rajat Parr and winemaker Sashi Moorman, Sandhi excels with cool-climate Chardonnays and Pinots from some of Santa Barbara’s top sites. Things change in California at a much faster pace than is common in other parts of the world. Investor-backed projects like Sandhi often have short lives. I hope that won’t be the case here because Banks, Parr and Moorman are on to something truly special. It is quite conceivable that within a few years the Sandi Chardonnays and Pinots could become reference point, benchmark wines for Santa Barbara, and California, for that matter. The overall approach at Sandhi focuses on picking on the early side. Parr and Moorman describe the 2010 Pinot harvest as a sunny vintage that required a short cold soak and more punchdowns than normal, while 2011 was a much more classic year that they handled with no cold soak, short fermentations and pumpovers, but no punchdowns. The 2011 Pinots, which I tasted from barrel, are shaping up very nicely and include the first wines from Wenzlau and La Encantada. The 2011 Chardonnays were harder to read than the Pinots, so it will be interesting to see what direction they take over the next year or so. Tel. (805) 686-3086