Earlier this year I did something that I had not done in six years, I spent almost two weeks travelling in Napa and Sonoma Valleys as well as the Santa Cruz Mountains. Although I enjoy wines from these areas on a regular basis I did feel a little like someone who is seeing a friend’s child after a six-year gap, in other words the changes are quite astonishing.

In the 1980s when California was starting to show the world that great wine was not limited to Europe, often they had difficulty reigning in all the delicious fruit caused by such perfect weather and with the whites in particular, maybe a little too much oak was prevalent. A past associate of mine in Burgundy compared Californian Chardonnay to a beautiful lady applying too much make-up.

In 1978 when I first visited the tasting room at Chateau St. Jean in Sonoma, with my new bride, the winery was at the forefront of white wine production and in particular Chardonnay. In my notes, written when we revisited in February, I wrote “I am finding a new style in whites in general — elegance”.

On Monday we had a blind tasting of five Californian Chardonnays in the office (we have such a willing staff) and I noted that the colour of one was light, that suggested minimal oak, and that it exhibited bright, vibrant and clean aromas along with a delicate character. Most drinkable I thought. When it was fully revealed I could see that it was our Chateau St Jean North Coast Chardonnay 2012 that we sell for $20.45. The winemaker talks of creamy lemon, sweet pear, apple and toasted hazelnut.

About another I wrote “bright light gold, the driest and most reserved, in fact remindful of a Burgundy”. Robert Parker (he was not at our blind tasting) writes about plenty of depth without overwhelming the sheer vibrancy of the aromas and flavours of citrus and floral notes. He called it incredibly appealing and another terrific value. This turned out to be our Beringer Napa Valley Chardonnay 2011 that we sell for $21.95.

For the third Chardonnay and the second most terrifying drive in my life (the first being down an abandoned road on stratovolcano Villarrica in Chile) let me tell you of a 2009 that shows how a fine Chardonnay can age. Firstly, as I did last month, let us turn off the main highway on to an unpaved private side road that rises two thousand feet over a two-mile length. This is about a 20 percent grade which compares with a maximum of 5 percent on most public transport routes.

Once you reach this Santa Cruz mountain peak you are at Mount Eden Vineyard that was founded in 1945 and is now recognised as one of the original Californian boutique properties. The vines are planted in austere, infertile soil on a cool, exposed mountain top.

The Domaine Eden 2009 Chardonnay is a blend of 60 percent fruit from their original estate vineyard and 40 percent from a newer mountain top property. This wine is icy clean, vibrant and mineral in style with flavours of citrus zest, quince and spring flowers. If you love precision and delicacy this is it. It should drink well until 2019. As it ages the oak will stand out a little more and this is of course not because anyone managed to add oak, but rather that the fruit becomes more subdued in older wines as they evolve and age. $36.50

This column is a paid advertorial for Burrows, Lightbourn Ltd. Michael Robinson is Director of Wine at Burrows, Lightbourn Ltd. He can be contacted at mrobinson@bll.bm or on 295-0176. Burrows, Lightbourn have stores in Hamilton (Front Street East, 295-1554), Paget (Harbour Road, 236-0355) and St George’s (York Street, 297-0409). A selection of their wines, beers and spirits are available online at www.wineonline.bm.