Fast becoming a perennial favorite, the 2018 Legacy Chardonnay skillfully marries winemaker artifice with impeccable fruit quality. It features elegant notes of toasted hazelnuts accenting bold fruit flavors that suggest grilled pineapple and white peaches. Medium to full-bodied, it exhibits both generosity and restraint, being plump in the mouth, yet fine, elegant and long on the finish.

Refreshingly different in style from the rest of the Chardonnays under the Villa Maria umbrella, Vidal Estate's 2016 Legacy Chardonnay is a medium-bodied, citrus-driven wine. Hints of struck flint appear on the nose, along with subtle pencil shaving suggestions of oak, but the driving force is the wine's concentrated grapefruit flavors that linger through the extended finish. As an aside, the previously reviewed 2011 Legacy Chardonnay (92+) has been rereleased by the winery, and it remains in peak condition, capable of aging through 2020. Note that this wine is labeled El Legado in the United States.

Since Lisa Perrotti-Brown last reviewed this wine in Issue 228 (December 2016), I think the 2014 Legacy Chardonnay has evolved in a positive way. The sulfide notes she references are still present, but they are better integrated into the wine, coming across as roasted nuttiness rather than struck match per se, and play a nice role in supporting the opulent peach fruit. It's a ripe, medium to full-bodied, silky-textured Chardonnay that retains a sense of poise and wraps up with a bright, crisp finish. Note that this wine is labeled El Legado in the United States.

The 2011 Legacy Series Chardonnay presents enticing scents of juicy peaches, lemon tart and honeyed toast with hints of almonds, struck match, nougat and cedar. Medium-bodied with a great intensity of cream-drizzled peach flavors and just enough toasty nuttiness, it has a good backbone of perky acidity and a long, lively finish. Drink it now to 2017+. Imported by Ste. Michelle Estate, Woodinville, WA.