The Elio Grasso 2021 Langhe Chardonnay Educato is a mineral-driven white wine from a parcel that sits at a cool and breezy 460 meters above sea level. The canopy is very high off the ground, with loose clusters, allowing air currents to keep the fruit disease-free. Gianluca Grasso jokes: "The vines look like little Christmas trees." This wine has a glossy quality that I absolutely love. I get aromas of honey, beeswax, peach, spice and latex. No malolactic fermentation takes place, and there is an elegant dusting of salty mineral on the close.

In 1985, Elio Grasso planted these Chardonnay vines, and the first vintage came out in 1990. Fermented partly in wood and partly in steel, the 2017 Langhe Chardonnay Educato has some great freshness, very intentionally, as they harvested in the first few days of September to get the early fruit. The harvest was done in the cooler hours of 5 a.m. to 10 a.m., and there is no batonnage here. You can taste the calcareous minerality that this Chardonnay mirrors from the white clay and limestone soils the vines are planted in. This wine should be enjoyed within the next few years.

Chardonnay is the only grape not planted by Gianluca Grasso's grandfather, but by his father. The 2016 Langhe Chardonnay Educato sees fruit from one of the estate's highest vineyard sites at 500 meters above sea level. The first year this wine was produced was 1990, and today some 6,000 bottles are made annually. Educato is made in stainless steel and does not undergo malolactic fermentation. As a result, you are treated to a zesty, nervous and vibrant expression with salty mineral tones and tangy citrus. Fruit was harvested in the wee hours of the morning before sunrise. I just love this refreshing style of Chardonnay.