Tasting Notes
Straw yellow in color, the nose is reminiscent of green apples, hard lemon candies, and fragrant stone fruit. The palate is creamy yet bright with flavors of Asian pear, lemon custard and baking spices. The finish is crisp, long and refreshing.
Fermentation
The grapes were whole-cluster pressed to tank and cold settled overnight, then racked off heavy solids to barrels. We try to retain the perfect amount of solids for mouthfeel and complexity. The juice was fermented with indigenous yeast to dryness. Malolactic fermentation was long and cool, also using indigenous flora. At completion of ML each barrel was put on a less-stirring regimen until the perfect harmony and palate weight was achieved.
Vintage
The 2014 vintage offered excellent growing conditions. A mild winter and spring compounded with almost no rain contributed to early ripening, low to moderate yields and highly concentrated grapes resulting in exceptional quality. 2014 is one of the earliest vintages we’ve seen in over a decade, but it will also go down as one of the best.
Vineyards
Sourced from several old vine, chardonnay vineyards nestled in the Russian River Valley. This wine is a combination of Bazzano Vineyard, Louvau Vineyard, and a young rising star- Fidelis Vineyard.