Tyler Winery’s 2023 La Rinconada Vineyard Chardonnay is a single-vineyard Sta. Rita Hills bottling from Santa Barbara County on California’s Central Coast. Tyler sells largely through a direct-to-consumer model, including its “Favored Allocation List” for priority access to releases. While complete technical details for this vintage (such as alcohol, élevage, and production volume) aren’t cited in the available material, critics are unusually aligned on both quality and style.

This is, by any measure, an excellently reviewed wine. Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate awarded it **96+ points**, with Matthew Luczy calling it “**always a centerpiece of the Tyler range**” and praising an “**additional layer of high-resolution clarity**” in 2023 that “**elevat[es] what is routinely one of the region’s finest Chardonnay expressions**.” Luczy describes a wine that “**combines a sumptuous, textural power**” with “**incredibly focused, mineral-driven energy**,” moving to a “**seamless, measured and mouthwatering finish**” with “**chalky grip**.” Aromatically, he notes it as “**radiant, pure, herbal and honeyed**.”

Vinous also scored the wine **96 points**, with Billy Norris emphasizing both generosity and definition: “**an alluring, incredibly textural wine, with a generous, ample personality and impressive delineation of flavors**.” His tasting note points to a distinctly cool-climate Chardonnay register—“**mint, toasted spices, yellow apple, chamomile and chalk**”—carried by a “**sumptuous, creamy mid-palate**” and closing with “**great precision**.” Norris sums it up as “**beautifully balanced**” with “**a clear mineral accent**.”

Taken together, the reviews paint a Chardonnay that prioritizes texture without losing line: broad and creamy through the middle, but consistently steered by herbal lift, chalky minerality, and a long, controlled finish—an especially strong showing for Sta. Rita Hills in 2023.