Ryan Stirm's minimalist project keeps finding California's overlooked corners, and Cienega Valley in San Benito County is one of the best of them — a narrow limestone-laced valley in the shadow of the Gabilan Mountains. The Gimelli Vineyard (once known as El Gabilan) traces back over 120 years and supplied cuttings to much of the region; this Chardonnay comes from an 11-acre block planted in 1997 on calcite-weathered alluvial sand. Whole-cluster pressed, spontaneously fermented in old barrels, aged 15 months on lees, bottled unfined and unfiltered. Vibrant, mineral, and tightly wound — the antithesis of the buttery California Chardonnay cliché.