An unexpected blend of creamy Chardonnay and fruity Sauvignon Blanc that blew this wine critic’s mind

Welcome to Wine of the Week, a new series in which Chronicle wine critic Esther Mobley recommends a delicious bottle that you should be drinking right now. Last week, she highlighted a $10 Valdiguie. Check back for a new installment every Wednesday.

Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc often represent the two extremes of white wine styles in California. The former can be rich, creamy and buttery, while the latter can make a wine that’s lean, tart and citrusy. Those polar-opposite qualities might make it sound inconceivable that the two could ever be blended together.

But in the hands of Gina Giugni, the winemaker behind the Lady of the Sunshine label, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay turn out to be surprisingly successful blending partners.

She didn’t invent the idea of combining the two grape varieties. It’s a traditional practice in Cheverny, a sub-region of France’s Loire Valley. Giugni fell in love with Cheverny wines, and began trying out her own version in 2018. She calls her wine Chevey, “my California version of Cheverney,” she says.

I’ve never tasted anything like the Lady of the Sunshine Chevey, which is something quite different from the sum of its parts. It’s massively expressive, its aromas exploding out of the glass and its flavors enveloping the mouth. Chardonnay provides a luxurious richness to the wine’s texture, and a savory note that recalls flaky sea salt. Sauvignon Blanc brings an irresistible fruitiness: The wine made me think of candied kumquats, lemon verbena and juicy honeydew melon.

Giugni had a hunch the two components would harmonize. Both the Sauvignon Blanc and the Chardonnay grapes come from Oliver’s Vineyard, an organic site owned by Talley Winery in the Edna Valley, outside of San Luis Obispo. They’re planted right next to each other. The Sauvignon Blanc from Oliver’s Vineyard always tends to have “wildly perfumed aromatics,” Giugni says, “so the idea of calming it with the addition of Chardonnay, that has more grounding mineral tones, ended up being, in my opinion, a very complementary pairing for a more balanced wine.”

Chevey would satisfy most people’s definitions of natural wine: It was fermented by native yeast, bottled unfiltered and unfined, with sulfur its only addition. The wine tastes relentlessly, sparklingly clean. In the Bay Area, the wine is available at shops including Fig & Thistle, K&L and Bay Grape, or you can order directly from Lady of the Sunshine’s website.

Lady of the Sunshine Chevey (60% Sauvignon Blanc, 40% Chardonnay) Oliver’s Vineyard Edna Valley 2019 ($28, 13.3%)

Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicle’s wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley