Tasting Notes
Everything we love about our 2021 The Estate Chardonnay is in this wine, plus more. Aromatically, it leaps from the glass with notes of white flower petals, jasmine, hawthorne, white peach and a multitude of stone fruits. Reflecting our terroir and the 2021 vintage perfectly, this wine evokes the power of sunshine at our high elevation, and the stony, mineral notes of our cooling coastal influence.
Winemaking Notes
The fruit was picked by hand at night, and firm, cool clusters were delivered to the winery before sunrise. We hand-sorted the clusters and transferred them into a bladder press. After gentle pressing, the juice settled for 24 hours before we carefully racked it into new French oak barrels. Native yeast slowly guided fermentation, and batonnage was deliberate yet restrained until malolactic fermentation was complete. The wine aged sur lie for 15 months without any racking, fining or filtration. We carefully racked the wine off its lees directly to bottle.
Vintage Notes
2021 was a dry, warm, even vintage, giving us wines with great intensity and harmony. Though we experienced record-low rainfall of 20 inches, a long way from our 65-inch average, it was plenty to fill our pond and irrigate our vines throughout the season. Budbreak occurred on the early side due to an unusually dry, warm winter, and this early trend continued throughout the season. Spring and summer remained dry and warm, though temperatures never spiked. This consistency, along with bountiful sunlight, allowed for even ripening across the vineyard. It was a smooth growing season and an ideal harvest, with all fruit picked at just the right moment and coming into the winery in a steady stream. The wines are remarkably dense and complex, with lots of structure, energy and delicate aromatics.
Blocks
28Clones
Hyde
Audrey Frick, Jeb Dunnuck, July 2023
The 2021 Chardonnay Cuvée Cleo is luxurious and balanced, with delicate flint, elegant oak spice, wet stone, ripe green apple, and white flower-driven aromatics. It’s layered and extended, with a rounded mouthfeel and full body, although it remains weightless. It’s exceptional and long, with a Burgundian feel in its outstanding, stony texture and balancing acidity, as well as a salty character on the finish. Drink 2025-2037.
