Tasting Notes

Release Date: Fall 2008

In 2005 many vineyards along the Northern California coast were dealt a hard blow during the flowering period and we were among them. Untimely rains reduced the crop to a historic low, however, the rest of the growing season was fantastic, cool and long—thus the great and small of the wine world.

With such a small crop, less than one ton per acre, the ripeness was effortless. Complex orchard fruit aromas of peach-nectarine combine with the more typical lemon-earth-anise profile that is associated with our Estate Chardonnay. Good acidity and total dryness drive the compelling finish. Youthful and vibrant, this wine is drinking well but will be even better in two to ten more years.

Barrel aged, sur-lie, for one year and bottled aged for another two, the Estate Chardonnay takes this much time to fill out and develop its personality. This is the most enigmatic wine we make.

Production

1,239

Tech Notes

Yield: 3/4 tons per acre (lowest harvest on record) Harvest: September 17th-23rd Numbers @ Harvest: 24.0 Brix, 3.6 pH, 7 grams acidity Barrel Regimen: French Burgundy 50% new; 50% 1 year; 100% Barrel Fermented; 100% Malolactic; aged 9 months Bottling: July 2006; lightly filtered  

Reviews

96 points Robert Parker Jr's The Wine Advocate - December 2008

Issue #180

The prodigious 2005 Chardonnay Estate exhibits a light gold color as well as a gorgeous perfume of orange blossoms, sweet white corn, caramelized peaches, brioche, and honeysuckle.  Full-bodied and fleshy with good acidity, this beauty should age easily for 7-8 years.

96 points Wine Enthusiast Magazine - February 2009

Editors Choice

A massive Chardonnay with tremendous grilled pineapple, peach pie, buttered cinnamon toast, butterscotch, caramel and vanilla flavors, and a firm, earthy minerality.  Feels fat and glyceriney in the mouth, providing a decadent palate experience, but acidity contributes to the firm, elegant structure.  It should age effortlessly for at least six years, changing and evolving over time.—S.H.

93 points Wine Spectator - March 2009

Sleek, elegant and medium-bodied, offering a mix of ripe tropical fruit, tangerine and nectarine, with a pleasing earthy note, shaded by smoky, toasty oak on the finish.  Drink now through 2013.—JL

90 points Steve Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar - December 2008

Medium yellow-gold.  Musky, leesy aromas of baked apple, butterscotch, smoke and spices, with mineral and tropical fruit nuances adding complexity.  Fairly fat and chewy, with slightly exotic, extract-rich flavors of peach, pear, brown butter ad baking spices.  Quite silky and lush for a chardonnay from this producer.  Finishes ripe, thick and long.