2021 • Reserve Chardonnay 2021

Reserve Chardonnay 2021

Varietal:

100% Chardonnay

Alcohol:

12.5%

Vinification Notes:

Direct-to-press Chardonnay was first settled overnight and then racked off gross juice lees to ferment and age on fine lees in two new 500L Stockinger puncheons for 18 months. Unfined. Unfiltered. Sediment expected.

Vineyard:

Dicesare Vineyard, Redwood Valley, Mendocino County; dry-farmed (non-irrigated), certified organic vineyard; gravelly loam soils.

Martha's Notes

Like many wine lovers, great Chardonnay always has a place at our table. While Chardonnay is particularly versatile and can be made into many different expressions, our favorites have a distinctive restraint and subtle elegance. More is certainly less. Vineyard site selection and harvest date are critical of course, but we find much of the balance occurs during ‘élevage,’ or how the wine is raised. Long and cool fermentations in larger puncheons (roughly twice the volume of a typical barrel), helps preserve the delicate aromas, and due to the greater ratio of wine to oxygen in larger 500L barrels, the wine is much more transparent — showcasing the concentrated yet lively beauty of dry-farmed Chardonnay grown next to the California bay laurels and pear trees that surround Dicesare Vineyard’s cooler, valley position in Mendocino County. Like all our wines, we allow our Chardonnay to fully complete malolactic fermentation (naturally) and age the wine on its lees, which provides added depth and a slight weightiness to the finished wine. The Reserve Chardonnay 2021 is a true reserve selection of just two 500L Stockinger puncheons. 

Production Notes

Production: 105 cases (Two puncheons)

At Bottling:

(February 2023): 12.5% alc/vol · Free SO2 9 mg/L, Total SO2 37 mg/L