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. More
powerful than the 2002 and 2005 vintage Buty wines, it is young at release and will open and
taste best over the next three years.
Growing Conditions
This vintage was unique for its extremely small grape size. The very dry spring and hot June
temperatures stressed vine development and reduced grape size. Fruit extract was great also.
We harvested our lowest yield ever with 20% less fruit per acre with the average clusters per
vine yielding 20% less wine per ton as well. Bud break was in early April in 2007, flowering
finished by June 6th, verasion was from August 9th through 12th, and harvest occurred on
September 10th and 13th. Long before the fall, we cane pruned then shoot thinned in spring,
cluster thinned at verasion, and did not leaf strip—all of which promote concentration in the fruit
early in development. The shaded fruit and small crop create the grace and concentration of our
wine.
Harvest
We began hand-harvesting on September 19th at dawn. The fruit was physiologically mature at
23.8°brix hydrometer, 7.9g/L organic acids, and 3.4 pH.
Bottling
We bottled on July 8th, 2008.
Winemaking
We hand sorted clusters and both
whole cluster pressed and crushed the chardonnay clusters using a new method I designed to
allow for greater extraction in the wine. The raw juice fermented entirely in 90% mature
Burgundy barrels and was lees stirred. We partially fermented the malic acid for stylistic
crispness. 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.
