Sandhi 'White Buffalo Land Trust' Chardonnay 2021
VINTAGE : 2021
COUNTRY : USA
REGION/APPELLATION : California, Jalama Canyon Ranch (Santa Barbara County AVA)
VARIETALS : Chardonnay
Sandhi is a small production California winery focusing on wines made from select vineyards that have been exhaustively vetted for character, personality, and balance. Founded by Rajat Parr, the wine director for Michael Mina Restaurants, and esteemed winemaker, Sashi Moorman, these wineries represent this dynamic duo’s belief that great wines are a collaboration between man, earth, and vine.
The wines of Sandhi are Raj and Sashi’s love letters to the Santa Rita Hills appellation. Some of the wines are from legendary vineyards that helped put the appellation on the map and some from newer sites. Just like the property that became Domaine de la Cote, these sites are chosen for their ability to produce wines of finesse, minerality, acidity, structure and balance.
The Label
Lindsey Ross is a California-based artist who primarily works with large format photography and the 19th century process, wet-plate collodion. Ross started working in this process in 2011 and she quickly realized it was the ideal format for her artistic practice. Ross seeks autonomy yet, at the same time, a sense of connection. The slow pace of collodion requires a presence and intimacy that connects Ross to both the physical and spiritual world. To honor the rugged beauty of Jalama Canyon Ranch and underscore the importance of place to the character of wine, Sandhi and The White Buffalo Land Trust invited Lindsey Ross to capture it through her unique eye and detailed process. The label is a work of art.
Sandhi has partnered with the White Buffalo Land Trust, an organization that practices and promotes regenerative agriculture. The trust was founded by Steve Finkel after the passing of his wife, Lyndsey McMorrow, who had a deep affinity for regenerative agriculture. Sandhi produces Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wine from Jalama Canyon Ranch, the trust’s headquarters, which serves as a living laboratory for showcasing regenerative agriculture principles showcasing a diversity of climate-appropriate cropping systems, livestock management systems, and wetland restoration.
The White Buffalo Land Trust’s history dates back to 2001 when two White Buffalo calves were born in Colorado. Lyndsey and her mother were asked to care for and protect the two buffalo on their land in California. Over the years, Lyndsey and Bobbie looked after the White Buffalo and heard the continuing call to heal relations with the earth and in their communities. After Lyndsey’s passing, Steve Finkel founded the trust to fulfill the work Lyndsey inspired during her life.