After the last couple of vintages you are most likely getting used to the style of our Chardonnay. The wine is a result of this perfect cool, coastal climate and the process we have arrived at to best highlight all the complexity of aroma and flavor we achieve from our vineyard. All the fruit is farmed organically at our vineyard, and then once it arrives at the winery we press the whole clusters to juice, not crushing first, to get the most brilliance of flavor from the grapes. 30% of that fruit goes into stainless steel barrels – this portion of the juice will be fermented and aged its entire life in those barrels – they will ferment by yeast that was native to the vineyard and present on the skins of the grapes, which transferred to the juice during the pressing. These stainless steel barrels will be stirred on a regular basis to keep the lees suspended during the fermentation and aging, this helps add a round, fleshy mouthfeel to Chardonnay. However, these barrels will not undergo Malolactic fermentation – the process that converts malic acid, like that of an apple, to lactic acid like the acid in cream – a softer type of acid. By keeping this 30% share away from the oak and Malolactic fermentation it gives me a portion of the wine that is all/only about the purity of the vineyard, with a very crisp, clean personality. The other 70% of the juice will be put into French Oak barrels to ferment and to age – the fermentation will be from that same native/wild yeast that was on the skins naturally in the vineyard, and will also be stirred regularly so the lees aid in creating the silky mouthfeel, but will undergo the malic to lactic acid transformation. The resulting wine in the French oak barrels will gain richness, a soft creamy texture and then an array of warm toasty spice notes. The end result as you get to taste every vintage is a “best of both worlds” - balanced, layered, delicious Chardonnay.

Except for the fun you have drinking the wine, this is usually the end of the story, - but not in this vintage…you see to take the explanation of the barrel process to the next level – 1/3 of the French oak barrels are new each vintage, 1/3 are 1 year old, and 1/3 are 2 year old. This is the balance I like, to assure the wine is seasoned but never too oaky. In 2008, at the point after fermentation had slowly ticked off at 50 to 60 degrees in the cellar, my son Cole and I recognized a really nice floral aspect emerging in the young wine – something unique to this vineyard and really delightful! We tasted in detail and discussed all the different components of the wine – every barrel – a couple of times a week thru the month of December. We decided that we needed to highlight and make sure this floral side of the wine’s personality stayed intact for the remainder of the aging – so we removed all the wine from the new French oak barrels and put it into 2 year-old barrels, decreasing the toasty notes and leaving the vineyard notes to shine thru. It worked well! You will notice the wine has the same richness, and balance as always; and the nice citrus character that is signature to the Russian River Valley – but you will also enjoy something a little extra in this vintage – a floral layer in the aroma and in the finish that adds to the elegance and intrigue, a gift from Mother Nature in 2008 that cannot be reproduced every year but just highlighted and enjoyed when the growing season presents us with a treat like this. Small shifts in our handcrafted techniques like this make me appreciate our decision to remain small and artisan, despite higher demand - and I am sure you will appreciate it too, once you get to enjoy the wine!