“Lean mouthfeel, bright acidity, flintiness, tight grip, and striking power from a strong backbone. Wonderful focus and balance. The fruit comes on the finish: Granny Smith apple, pear, mandarin orange….” 91 pts, The Corkscrewer Report, November 2015

2013 summed up to be a perfect vintage with clear sunny days and cool evenings.  This produced a long, moderate growing season with extended hang time and even ripening, resulting in a full range of flavors while retaining natural acidity.

We press the whole clusters for delicacy. Native-yeast and full native malolactic fermentation take place in barrel, with sur lies bâtonnage. After aging 12 months in 20% new French and Hungarian oak barrels (François Frères and Demptos), this Chardonnay is fined and stabilized in tank during the following harvest. It was then bottled without filtration in February, 2015.

Coming from these two special vineyard sites (77% Martinelli Charles Ranch Vineyard; 23% Platt Vineyard), our Sonoma Coast Chardonnays show great depth of flavor, length of finish, aromatic complexity, and a fine balance between richness and delicacy.  These two vineyards have typically cool climates, low vigor soil, and a vine selection that generate small berries, small clusters and inherently low yields.