We are excited to introduce our inaugural vintage of Corazon del Rio Chardonnay! The grapes are from a younger block of the Buena Tierra Vineyard called Corazon del Rio and produced in the same manner as Buena Tierra. The wine is fresh, gorgeous, and stunning and displays the same overall beautiful complexity and consistency of Shibumi Chardonnay.

While watching his first grapes being processed, Don Ross met another vintner, Eugenia Keegan, who was bringing in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes from Sonoma County. Eugena asked Don if he’d like to barrel taste her wines. The last wine he tasted, a Chardonnay from Buena Tierra Vineyards, he felt was stunning. Eugena was moving to Oregon so he approached the owner of Buena Tierra Vineyards, located on the Russian River in Sonoma county about buying the grapes. The owner explained that because the vines were 35 years old and grape production was down, he was going to replant the 2.4-acre block. Don offered to pay full production price for whatever grapes were harvested, an agreement which has continued for 16 years.

Chardonnay from Shibumi Knoll’s Buena Tierra Vineyard has proven to be among the best in the country. The 2005 vintage received a 97 from The Wine Spectator, tied for the highest score given California Chardonnay in the first decade of this century. Shibumi continues to receive high scores. This ancient block of vines, now over 50 years old, has produced some incredible Chardonnay vintage after vintage.