ALC: 14.5%
REGION: California, Lodi
VINTAGE: 2020
TASTING NOTES:
The 2020 vintage boasts a complex structure with finesse. This full-bodied Chardonnay offers suave aromas nuanced with delicate white summer flowers, toasted almond and a hint of whiskey barrel. Flavors of ripe fig, mango, lightly roasted marshmallow and sliced pear segue to a creamy butterscotch finish balanced by a natural acidity. Charming and charismatic.
WINEMAKING: Optimal picking for the Chardonnay that goes into the blend is a combination of Winemaker evaluation, vineyard condition and a weather eye. Chardonnay is picked based upon proper flavor ripeness, harvested in the cool of the night and delivered to the Winery to be destemmed into fermentation tanks.
It then spends 24-48 hours slowly warming up to proper fermentation temperature. Most of the Chardonnay for this blend was fermented on oak with the greater portion being French and the balance on American oak.
A variety of specially selected toast levels for the oak were used along with sur-lie aging to give the wine richness and fatness. The wine is racked off oak at an appropriate time to retain brightness and freshness of this varietal, allowing the Winemaker to craft their signature style.