2020 Catapult Vineyard Chardonnay
This Chardonnay is a brilliant wine with detail and elegance. The nose and palate are full citrus, honey, and peach with secondary notes of brioche, butterscotch, and vanilla and a medium-long, luscious, finish.
This stunning wine comes from our Catapult Vineyard, in the Petaluma Gap, one of the coolest AVA's in California within the Sonoma Coast. Heavy clay soils over volcanic ash and rhyolite make these vines stressed and challenged whilst the coastal fog and breeze that the gap is known for slows ripening, thickens skins and intensifies flavors for an amazing wine. Picked in late September 2020, a warm year which is great for Chardonnay in these challenging conditions, the yield was low and very concentrated.
The grapes are hand picked at first light and pressed immediately to extract the freshest juice. It is settled over night to retain texture and flavor before being racked to a tank to begin fermentation naturally before being barreled down to a mixture of new and used French oak barrels. Fermentation takes two weeks before we introduce a malolactic yeast to complete secondary fermentation to add body, texture and flavor. The wine is aged for 12 months in barrel before being racked, blended and bottled.
