2009 Chardonnay - Dijon clone

Bronze Medal – International Women’s Wine Comp. 2011

Tasting Notes:
Barrel fermented and stirred on the lees for complexity and a creamy mouth feel. Rather than designing this chardonnay to be a meal unto itself we designed this wine for food. Medium bodied with a lingering finish reminiscent of crisp winter apples, the perfect balance of fruit and spice.

Winemaker Notes:
Chardonnay (shar-doh-NAY) is often considered the winemaker’s grape. The grape itself tends to be very agreeable, growing quite well in a variety of conditions and responding easily to the winemaker’s hand. I like to barrel ferment it for the added depth and mouth feel as well as stirring the lees and letting the wine go through malo-lactic fermentation (ML). I do track every barrel’s ML progress and may or may not let each one go all the way through depending on when I feel the wine comes into balance. As always, I am trying to create a food wine so I want some acid left to balance the creaminess of the wine as well as what you are eating; apple and onion tarts with slivers of blue cheese are an excellent companion.