Chardonnay, Diatom, Santa Barbara, CA, 2024

Diatom Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2024

The 2024 Diatom Santa Barbara County Chardonnay received an excellent set of professional reviews:

• Jeb Dunnuck: 94 points — Praised for exotic citrus, minty herbs and tropical-floral notes, with a clean, crisp, remarkably pure style and increasing richness in the glass.
• Vinous: 93 points — Billy Norris called it “gorgeous” and praised its regional identity, weight, floral lift, creamy/oily yet weightless texture and long, saline finish.
• Wine Spectator: 93 points — Ripe pear, ginger and pomelo with lime zest, white pepper, dried tarragon and sea-spray notes. It was also #18 on Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2025.
• James Suckling: 93 points — Succulent and long, with salinity, minerals, spring blossoms, lemon, orchard fruit and melon-pith character.
• Wine Enthusiast: 92 points — A zesty, distinctive wine showing oyster shell, honeydew, lime candy and grassy notes, with brisk lime-zest flavors.
• Robert Parker Wine Advocate: 90 points — Green orchard fruit, sea spray and spice, with a supple, polished palate and cleansing, saline finish.

Overall: This is a particularly strong vintage for Diatom. The critics consistently emphasize purity, freshness, citrus, salinity and minerality, rather than the heavy oak/butter character associated with some California Chardonnays. The professional-score range is 90–94 points, averaging about 92.5 points across the six critics.

The winery lists the 2024 at $27, while current retailers are showing it around $20–$22, making the professional reviews especially compelling at that price.