In 2016, 91% of the grapes for our Napa Valley Chardonnay came from the cool-climate Carneros District at the southern tip of the valley, with 41% of the fruit from our estate Carneros vineyards. Carneros enjoys a long, cool growing season that fully ripens its grapes while retaining the bright acidity that gives our Napa Valley Chardonnay its freshness and vitality. The other 9% of the fruit came from the Oak Knoll district just north of the city of Napa, a slightly warmer, but still cool-to-mild appellation influenced by evening and morning fog. Blending fruit from the two regions enabled us to craft a rich, yet elegant and complex chardonnay that drinks beautifully young, but will age gracefully in bottle for 5 - 7 years.
2016 saw the most abundant rainfall northern California had experienced since 1998. Nevertheless, a warm spring prompted early budbreak and a relatively cool summer, with slow, steady ripening, afforded perfect growing conditions, leading to an early harvest of Carneros Chardonnay grapes boasting terrific flavor concentration coupled with perfectly balanced acidity.
All the fruit was hand-harvested at night to maximize freshness and varietal intensity. It was then whole-cluster-pressed, with the free-run juice transferred to French oak barrels for fermentation. After primary fermentation completed, 22% of the wine was put through a secondary, malolactic fermentation to enrich flavors and texture. Our 2016 Napa Valley Chardonnay aged sur lie (on the yeast lees) for eight months in 34% new French oak barrels, with periodic stirring of the lees to add an appealingly creamy, slightly yeasty tone to the wine's crisp, vibrant fruit flavor
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