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Sonoma Valley
Tasting Notes
This luscious Chardonnay greets you with aromas of vanilla bean, butterscotch, and orange blossom on the nose. This wine was made for Summer days on the porch and relaxation. This Chardonnay is aged in barrel for 20+ months, offering a creamy mouthfeel of marmalade, lemon meringue, and honey. This wine finishes with subtle notes of citrus and lemon zest—a crisp finish, like a light breeze on a warm day.
Vintage Notes
We began our 2019 harvest before dawn on August 30. After a growing season that started in winter with record rainfall, the year ended with warm, even temperatures throughout summer. With few spikes in heat over the period, our vineyards had optimal conditions to develop full-flavored fruit with remarkable color and balanced acidity. Spring rains ended in time for good fruit set. The temperate summer allowed for long hang times and consistent, even ripening. We picked the majority of our fruit in September and the weather continued to cooperate. Warm breezy days, but fortunately no rain took place in October and the last of the grapes were harvested before the end of the month.
Vineyard Notes
Winemaker Notes
Winemaker Katie Madigan crafts this wine in a richer, more opulent style than our other premium Chardonnays. The fruit is picked at daybreak and delivered to the winery while still cold to preserve the wine’s delicate flavors, aromas and acidity. Grapes are pressed in whole clusters, then fermented sur lie in a temperature-controlled room maintained at 55 degrees to ensure a slow fermentation. For this Extended Age wine, select barrels were set aside, chosen for their taste profile and acidity level, and given an extra 12 months of aging and battonage (stirring) to impart a rounder, more complex mouthfeel.
