Fall Release Estate Vineyard Chardonnay
2010

Winemaker’s Notes

This is our inaugural release of Chardonnay from our tightly planted hillside Estate vineyard and it’s an absolute beauty – one of the wines of the vintage and among the most exciting young vine wines we’ve ever bottled. It has that added dimension that only the finest Californian chardonnays may attain – great natural density and extract that is perfectly balanced by razor’s edge intense acidity. It’s a dynamic uncompromising mouthful with an almost Riesling-like precision. There’s just the right amount of fruit richness to allow drinking on release, but please save a bottle for four or five years and the rewards will multiply as its citrus richness further unfurls. It will transform from a great wine into an incredible one.

Brilliant pale straw lemon color. Richly aromatic: floral citrus blossom, honeydew melon, tangerine, lemon oil then brioche and almond paste richness. Laser-like palate intensity – dynamic and focused. Nectarine and white peach, dried apricot core. Great opulence, but never soft – vibrant, tense and energetic. Steely acidity. Persistent finish. Serve no cooler than 55 degrees and drink between 2012 and 2018.

Andy Smith Viticulturist, Winemaker & Partner