Racines is a collaboration between three star winemakers, two French and one American: Etienne de Montille runs, along with his sister Alix, the iconic Domaine de Montille in Burgundy, Rodolphe Petérs runs Pierre Petérs Champagne, a perennial winner of Champagne competitions, and Justin Willett, owner/winemaker of Tyler and winemaker for Wenzlau (whose ‘Drawing Board’ Pinot Noir was in one of the first Kompas Club selections) and Lieu Dit. The Sta. Rita Hills Cuvée is a blend of the Bentrock, Sanford & Benedict and Wenzlau vineyards with the majority coming from Wenzlau, which Racines now holds a long-term lease on and organically farms themselves. The concept for the Chardonnays is to give the wine a bit more weight on the palate through more incorporation of the fine lees, long barrel aging with small amounts of new oak (17%) and additional time in stainless steel tanks before bottling. Racines means “roots” in French, by the way, and the fact that two French wine luminaries have put down roots in the Sta. Rita Hills is yet another endorsement of this exceptional region, and it is fitting that this is the first “baller” white wine selection for Kompas Wine Club.