One of the reasons that you’ve taken this moment to visit us here at Wine Review Online is no doubt to find something new — it’s certainly one of the things that binds us together as wine lovers. 
That said, it’s my pleasure to highly recommend a first release wine from Minus Tide, a brand-new player in California’s Mendocino County. This 2017 Chardonnay, sourced from the Mendocino Ridge AVA’s Mariah Vineyard ($36), has been beautifully realized by three friends that met at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (one of California’s “other” wine schools) who are handling nearly every aspect of the winery, from winemaking to sales to label artwork, and they are off to the races with this gorgeously place-specific white wine.
A little background on sourcing: Mendocino Ridge is the rare AVA that is based on an elevation cut line, sitting above 1200 feet, and it’s the only non-contiguous AVA in the country to date. Picture mountaintop vineyards dotting your view–basking in the sun above the fog that swaddles the landscape resting below 1200 feet–and you’ll get a sense of what the AVA is…unique to say the least.
Now, look up to picture Dan Dooling’s Mariah Vineyard at 2600 feet — more than double the AVA’s cut line elevation — with a view of the Pacific, and you’ll get a fuller picture of how this wine comes 
together.
And come together it does, with elegant aromatics include pear, peach, apple, stony minerality and a dash of ocean spray. These all translate in linear fashion on the palate, with a solid core of acidity driving the wine’s intensity and integration of flavors through a long finish. Neutral oak adds a lovely textural component without interfering with the tension and purity of the fruit mix. I could drink this all day long and never tire of it, and I’m excited to taste the rest of the lineup from this venture. Look for more reviews soon. 94 Points
I love discovering something new in wine — it’s like looking down and spotting a shell or a stone that you’ve never seen before while strolling the beach during a minus tide….
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