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2008 Chardonnay
Chardonnay
2008 Chardonnay,
Estate Grown and Bottled Santa Ynez Valley
We hand craft our wines with character and integrity from grapes sustainably grown in our Santa Barbara County vineyard. We grow all our own grapes and have the benefit of farming this vineyard since 1973.
Growing Season and Harvest
After a relatively uneventful winter, the vines came to life in early April only to be frost bit in late-April. Thankfully, only a small portion of our vineyard was damaged. May’s weather was not any better with sprinkles and wind during the critical bloom period. After a heat spike of +100° in mid-June, things settled down to our normal 55° in the morning and 85° in the afternoon. Harvest started as usual in early September and went quickly as there were few grapes to pick. Another cold snap hit in mid-October, but it did not hurt as most of our grapes had been picked. Yields were low due to the weird weather but the quality was encouraging.
Winemaking
After hand harvesting, this Chardonnay was gently whole cluster pressed. Sixty percent of the juice was barrel fermented and aged sur lie or on the lees (yeast and solids) for 10 months in French oak barrels for complexity and richness. The remaining forty percent was then fermented in stainless steel tanks to retain its fresh fruit characters. Both portions were not allowed to go through malolactic fermentation to preserve their lively flavors.
The Wine
The resulting wine has bright mango, papaya, tangerine and pear aromas and flavors that marry with toasty oak from ten months of barrel aging. This wine will pair well with shellfish or light pasta over the next several years.
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