Butterfield Station Chardonnay 2020

Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery is a major Sonoma County producer that has been heavily involved in the history of the Sonoma wine industry. It offers a wide selection of wines at various price points but has been most successful with value wines made from the popular California varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.

The estate was established in 1904 by Samuele Sebastiani after he relocated to Sonoma from Tuscany. It was the only Sonoma winery to remain operational during Prohibition by making wine for sacramental and medicinal purposes.

Sebastiani's son, August, bought the winery from the estate and expanded its facilities and introduced new varieties. August focused on producing dry table wines, increasing production so that in 1975, Sebastiani's production surpassed a million cases.

In the 1980s, the winery was one of the largest in the United States, and was run by successive generations of the Sebastiani family. In 2001, Sebastiani sold a large collection of its most inexpensive brands under the Turner Road Vintners umbrella to Constellation Brands, and in 2008 the Sebastiani family sold the company to Bill Foley.

Foley began shifting Sebastiani's focus toward its fine wine labels. Production and yields were lowered and the equipment and facilities were upgraded.

Sebastiani takes advantage of some of the cooler climatic features of Sonoma by producing Roussanne, Viognier and Pinot Noir in addition to the signature California varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel and Chardonnay. Most of the wines carry the Sonoma County appellation designation or its sub-AVAs with Sonoma Coast, Alexander Valley and Russian River Valley being well represented. - Information from Wine Searcher