Nose
The nose is attractive and ripe, made of clean stone fruit flavors and vibrant citrus notes
Palate
The silky texture and the long, crisp, fruit-filled finish complete our wine, un-obscured by
oak.
Growing Conditions
This vintage we used two different chardonnay clones at Conner Lee. The June 18th
flowering was late there, caused by a cool spring. Planning our wine from the start, we cane
pruned in February, then shoot thinned in May, cluster thinned at verasion, and did not leaf
strip. All these efforts promoted concentration in the fruit early in the year. The shaded fruit
and small crop allow the grace and concentration of our wine.
Harvest
We began hand-harvesting the first of the three blocks on September 20th at dawn. We
harvested our other blocks on September 22nd and Oct 1st. The fruit was physiologically
mature, with readings of 23.7° and 21.8° brix, and pHs of 3.25. Organic acids were between
8.5g/L and 9.8 g/L.
Bottling
We bottled on July 2, 2009.
Winemaking
We hand sorted clusters and then both whole cluster pressed some and
crushed the other blocks of chardonnay by a method I designed to allow for greater
extraction in the wine. These juicing techniques are designed to develop ideal texture in the
wine. We do not alter the juice with finings or additions of chemicals. This rich and vibrant,
acidic and silky style is the hallmark of our chardonnay. This wine’s balance is natural; we
never add acids or water to our juices to adjust acidity or alcohol. Instead, we grow our fruit
to balance the natural juice acids so that our wine needs no additions. The raw juice
fermented in 90% mature Burgundy barrels and was lees stirred. We partially fermented the
malic acid for stylistic crispness.
