May 2025 – see websites for availability of wine
Chardonnay is the most popular white wine grape in America! One reason: it’s extremely versatile, and can be grown in the vineyard and made in the winery to represent many different styles. In our coastal wine region of San Luis Obispo, you’ll find a large range of cool-climate styles from these 16 wineries that specialize in Chardonnay.
1. Baileyana Winery
Named for the Acacia Baileyana tree abundant throughout the Central Coast, Baileyana was founded over 35 years ago and is one of the original shapers of Edna Valley winemaking. Situated in California’s coolest growing region, nearest the Pacific Ocean, Baileyana exudes a graceful yet vivid elegance. Our array of distinctly exceptional wines – highlighted by cool climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir – are the epitome of the excellence, charm and potential of Edna Valley. This stunning region remains a breathtaking getaway, hidden in plain sight.
Located in the heart of the Edna Valley, our tasting room, housed in the historic Independence Schoolhouse, offers guests an off-the-beaten-path experience with picturesque views of the Santa Lucia Mountains.
- 2022 Baileyana La Pristina Chardonnay
- 2023 Baileyana El Gordo Chardonnay
- 2021 & 2022 Baileyana Edna Valley Chardonnay
- 2023 Baileyana Musqué Chardonnay
- 2023 Baileyana S-BAR Chardonnay
- 2022 True Myth Chardonnay
2. Biddle Ranch
Small batch wines, handcrafted in the heart of the Edna Valley, Biddle Ranch is a Labor of Love. Rolling hills, Chardonnay grapes growing on the vine, and sweeping views of the Santa Lucia range. From this bountiful land we call home, comes the wine we love to drink. Biddle Ranch is a celebration of belonging to land where doing what fills the soul and lifts the spirit comes naturally.
- 2022 Chardonnay
3. Cal Ploy Wine & Viticulture
The Cal Poly Wine & Viticulture Department is pleased to showcase and celebrate the Cal Poly Wine club. In an exampl eof the Learn by Doing experience, our students and faculty are crafting our best wines to share with alumni, parents, and supporters. All wines are student grown, crafted, and curated.
“High quality wines made to reflect Cal Poly’s commitment to excellence and the exceptional growing conditions of San Luis Obispo, California.”
- 2022 Cal Poly Chardonnay
- 2022 Cal Poly Reserve Chardonnay
4. Center of Effort
The powerful forces of skillful cultivation, artistic winemaking and a passion for unparalleled excellence are blended together to capture what Center of Effort refers to as the “magic” in the bottle, focusing solely on estate-grown Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The Center of Effort estate is blessed with a remarkable growing environment for classic Burgundian varietals.
There is nothing expedient in the winemaking approach. They embrace the detailed, labor-intensive methods that are required to produce the finest wines. Even then, only a handful of elite lots from each vintage are ultimately deemed worthy for designation under the ‘Center of Effort’ label.
- 2009, 2012, 2014, 2022 Chardonnay, COE
- 2016 & 2023 Giallo Solare, Chardonnay
5. Chamisal
Chamisal is devoted to understanding this magical piece of ground and applying the knowledge and experience of several decades to produce quintessential Central Coast Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs using sustainable practices. The vineyard is located in a tranquil setting just 10 minutes from downtown San Luis Obispo in the beautiful Edna Valley.
Chamisal specializes in sustainably produced Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Central Coast vineyards located between Monterey and Santa Barbara. The wines are known for their intense flavor, mouthwatering texture, and impeccable balance.
- 2020 Chamise Chardonnay
- 2022 Califa Chardonnay
- 2021 Rita’s Crown Chardonnay
- 2023 SLO Coast Chardonnay
- 2023 San Luis Obispo County Chardonnay
6. Couch Family Wines
Couch Family Wines is a boutique, family-owned winery initially planted in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It is a tribute to their Italian heritage. They produce wines from our estate fruit as well as sourced from Arroyo Grande Valley, and they planted Italian varieties on the backside of Madonna Mountain in SLO.
- 2019 Logic Chardonnay
- 2020 Woz Chardonnay, a special tribute to personal computer pioneer and friend, Steve Wozniak
7. Derby Wine Estates
Derby Wine Estates is a boutique, family-owned winery with three Estate vineyards across the Central Coast and a Tasting Room & production facility on the outskirts of downtown Paso Robles. We have a passion for good wine and good company, and strive to share both with everyone who walks through our door. Their 2020 Chardonnay is from the Derbyshire vineyard in the SLO Coast.
- 2021 Chardonnay, Bright and crisp with a refreshing aroma of lemon zest and crème Brulé and flavors of bright citrus and honey.
8. Laetitia
Since 1982, Laetitia Vineyards & Winery has been crafting refined wines that highlight the unique character and rich diversity of the Arroyo Grande Valley AVA. Originally established by a renowned French Champagne house, the Laetitia estate honors the time-honored winemaking traditions of Burgundy and Champagne, with a dedicated focus on small-lot Pinot Noir and sparkling wines. Guided by a commitment to heritage, harmony, innovation, and sustainability, the Laetitia team carefully stewards each vintage to ensure every bottle captures the true essence of the coastal terroir.
- 2022 Reserve du Domaine Chardonnay
9. Niner Wine Estates
Family Owned and Estate Grown – Niner is 100% estate grown and the integration of farming and winemaking is the foundation for everything we do. We currently farm a total of 240 acres across three different vineyards in Paso Robles and Edna Valley and make all of our wine in our LEED Certified Winery at Heart Hill Vineyard. We are known for our estate grown Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as well as our flagship blend Fog Catcher; however, we grow a wide range of varietals.
- 2021 Reserve Chardonnay, Jespersen Ranch
10. Sinor-LaVallee
Sinor-LaVallee was founded in 1997 by Mike Sinor and Cheri LaVallee-Sinor. Our wines are all from our Estate vineyard in Avila Beach with an Ocean View. There we have 8 clones of Pinot Noir along with Syrah, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Albariño.
Our journey began almost 23 years ago, when we met at college in San Luis Obispo and started working at local wineries. The wine bug bit us hard, and the Pinot Noir bug bit us even harder. We worked one harvest after another, consuming the craft of winemaking, and studying the art of Pinot Noir. We got married in Burgundy. We had two beautiful children. Experience led to opportunity, and opportunity led to more experience, and both led to fanaticism. And from fanaticism our little winery was born.
The SLO Estate wines come exclusively from Bassi Vineyard—these are limited-production estate bottlings that speak vividly of a single vineyard.
The White Label is reserved for ultra-limited wines that exhibit a leaner expression of Bassi Vineyard. We select clones, blocks, yeasts and barrels that cultivate structure, yielding wines with lower alcohol and higher acidity. These wines are all about litheness and clean site expression.
2023 Sinor-LaVallee Chardonnay Bassi Vineyard
11. Stephen Ross Wine Cellars
Stephen Ross Wine Cellars was founded on the principle of working with quality vineyards and hand-crafting the best wines possible from the grapes they yield. The winery started small, grew as financial resources allowed, and we stuck to our principles in winemaking and business–great, small production wines, solid business practices, and a nice, engaging place to work for our crew.
We planted our estate vineyard, Stone Corral Vineyard, entirely to pinot noir in 2001 in partnership with two other wineries in the area. In addition to our estate vineyard, we have continued to contract grapes from some of the best vineyards on the Central Coast.
Our wines reflect our commitment to consistently produce elegant, mind-blowing wines that demonstrate both terroir and Stephen’s winemaking skill from ultra-high premium grapes, estate and contracted. Small production for over 20 years, Stephen Ross wines have won acclaim throughout the industry. We offer five Pinot Noirs at the moment.
- 2022 Chardonnay, Bee Sweet Vineyard
- 2023 Chardonnay, Edna Valley
12. Talley Vineyards
Talley Vineyards is a family owned and operated winery that specializes in estate grown chardonnay and pinot noir ideally suited for the climate and soils of the Arroyo Grande and Edna Valleys. The Talley’s farming history in the area dates to 1948 when Oliver Talley began growing vegetables in the Arroyo Grande Valley.
Guided by this legacy and a commitment to long term sustainability, Talley Vineyards focuses on attention to detail in all aspects of farming and winemaking operations. The goal is to produce distinctive wines of consistently high quality that best express the unique character of each of the Talley family’s six vineyard sites in the two valleys.
- 2014, 2022, 2023 Estate Chardonnay
- 2022, 2023 Rosemary’s Chardonnay
- 2020, 2021, 2022 Rincon Chardonnay
- 2022, 2023 Oliver’s Chardonnay
13. Timbre Winery
Timbre (pronounced TAM·ber or TIM·ber) is the “color” of music. It is what makes two voices sound different, even when singing the same song. It is why two winemakers, working with the same vineyards, make unique wine. As a terroir-driven winery, we make wines expressive of the places and times from which they came. As winemakers, we channel those sites through our experience, adding our own mark- our TIMBRE- to the resulting wines.
Founded by Joshua Klapper and Alex Katz, Timbre Winery is the culmination of years of hard work, and dedication to our craft. It is winemaking expressed through the universal language of musical sound.”
- 2022 Opening Act Chardonnay, Dufloc, Oasis & Gold Coast Vineyards
- 2022, Guest Star Chardonnay, Santa Maria Valley//Gold Coast Vineyard
14. Tolosa Winery
At Tolosa Winery, we are true believers in the special terroir that is Edna Valley, nestled amongst the northwest to southeast running volcanic hills of San Luis Obispo County and the frontier for the most complex cool-climate varietals in California.
Our Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays reflect the cold northwest wind that sweeps down the coast and funnels into the valley, as well as the remarkable diversity of soil types: ingredients for nuanced and balanced wines of distinctive character.
- 2022 Chardonnay SLO Coast
- 2023 Chardonnay SLO Coast, Poletti – Edna Ranch (also Library wines available)
15. Wolff Vineyards
Wolff Vineyards is located on 125 acres of ecologically friendly and certified sustainable vineyard. The 125 acres vineyard is situated 4 miles from the ocean with sweeping views of the Edna Valley. The Estate produced Chardonnay is made with 45 year old vines and is the oldest producing Chardonnay vineyard in the Edna Valley! The deep root system accentuates a forward nose of tropical fruit and a rich mid-palate with smooth buttery undertones.
- 2022 Chardonnay
