Specials

From the winery:

This wine is 100% Chardonnay, and is the new version of what was our Bien Nacido Chardonnay.  Over the last 10 years the Bien Nacido Vineyard has been shrinking due to virus and economic considerations, and a couple of the blocks that we used to get from are now sadly gone.  Luckily, Block 18, which is directly behind the winery, has remained healthy, productive and yields high quality grapes.  This is the first year that we have worked with the Maria Vista Vineyard.  It is a beautifully farmed vineyard about 5 miles west of Bien Nacido, so slightly cooler site, and sits directly across the road from Presqu’ile Vineyard and Winery.

The grapes for this wine were harvested in four separate picks between September 10^th and September 24^th, at sugars ranging from 21.7 to 24.0° brix, all with great acidity.  Each lot was whole cluster pressed, chilled overnight in tank, and transferred to barrel the next day.  For Chardonnay, we use exclusively Francois Freres French oak Burgundy barrels, of which about 25% were new, 25% were two year old, and the rest neutral.  It went through complete malo in the barrel and was aged on the lees for 9 months.

This is classic Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay, with aromas of apples, pears, citrus and a nice dollop of toasty French oak.  The Maria Vista component, coming from a cooler climate gives the wine a nice bit of minerality as well.