Honeymoon 2023
70% Colombard, 30% Chardonnay · Dry Farmed • Redwood Valley · 55 cases
750 ml, 12.5% ABV
Enjoy With
Go continental with beurre blanc, roasted chicken, meaty oysters, or something with morels. If more vegetarian-friendly meals are calling your name, roast up miso glazed japanese sweet potatoes or braise a kabocha squash.
Drink When
You’re freshly back from the farmers market with the first of fall’s seasonal squash in tow and a book is waiting for you back home.
Martha's Notes
Now going on 75+ years of age, the head-trained and dry farmed (non-irrigated) Colombard vines at Ricetti Vineyard in Redwood Valley remain the heart of the Honeymoon wine. With age, dry farming, and continued emphasis on vine health through organic inputs, Colombard can reveal a complexity that rivals its parent, Chenin blanc. For me, the Honeymoon wine is always a layered wine, where tertiary characteristics develop alongside brightness and fruit. To achieve this, we use barrel fermentation, lees contact, and extended élevage. For 2023, Honeymoon incorporates Chardonnay from nearby Dicesare Vineyard (located just below Hawkeye Ranch, another favorite source of Chardonnay and Pinot noir). Fifth-generation grape and pear farmer Pete Johnson farms this block to his excellent, organic standard. Although the Chardonnay vines aren't yet “old-vine” like the Colombard, Pete has these dry farmed fields well positioned for many years of production ahead.
Specifications
Vintage:
2023
Alcohol:
12.5%
Varietal:
70% Colombard, 30% Chardonnay
Vineyard:
Colombard from Ricetti Vineyard, Redwood Valley, Mendocino County; planted in 1948; head-trained, dry farmed (non-irrigated), certified organic vineyard; gravelly loam soils.
Chardonnay from Dicesare Vineyard, Redwood Valley, Mendocino County; dry-farmed (non-irrigated), practicing organic vineyard; gravelly loam soils.
Vinification Notes:
Colombard and Chardonnay harvested separately. Both pressed immediately, settled overnight, and then racked off gross juice lees to ferment in a combination of neutral oak barrique and neutral vessels. We taste the juice lees during racking to determine how much to include (discarding overly bitter-tasting lees) and then re-distribute the lees evenly across vessels. Colombard and Chardonnay from the 2023 harvest aged unracked on fine lees for 10-months before blending with a small percentage of Chardonnay from the 2022 harvest, by then aged on fine lees for 22-months in 500L puncheon. Unfined. Unfiltered. Sediment expected.
Serving Temp:
Cool // 45-55°F // 7-13°C // Take this bottle out of your fridge ~20 minutes prior to enjoying.
At Bottling:
(July 2024): 12.5% alc/vol · Free SO2 7 mg/L, Total SO2 32 mg/L · Less than 1 g/L sugar (dry) · All wines are vegan
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