Tech Notes
Yield: 1.5 tons per acre
Harvest: August 19th-30th
Numbers @ Harvest: 22.5° Brix, 3.30 pH, 8.4 grams acidity
Barrel Regimen: French Oak 50% new, 50% 1 year; 100% Barrel Fermented; 100% Malolactic; aged 11 months on the sur-lie
Bottling: July 2017
Alcohol: 13.5%
Tasting Notes
Release Date: Fall 2019
We always emphasize longevity when talking about our Estate Chardonnays. Mount Eden’s wine “Library” goes back to the inaugural 1972 vintage—the first vintage as Mount Eden Vineyards when the partners at the time took over from our founder, Martin Ray. There have been many surprisingly long-lived chardonnay vintages from this mountaintop: 1973, 1976, 1982, 1984, 1987, and more. So, from experience, we know our vines can deliver.
The signature here is elegance and class: A small crop of 1.5 tons per acre aided in this result. Totally barrel fermented in French Burgundian Oak, this Chardonnay is aged in our cave for ten months on the lees and lightly filtered before bottling.
Delicate yet persistent aromas of citrus fruit and honeysuckle combine with an “old world” touch of earth. On the palate, the flavors are expansive with energetic and tense citrus fruit and minerality. This 2016 is reminiscent of the 2012 with its classic restraint yet with a deep core of acid-laden fruit.
Expect full development by 2022 and a long life thereafter.
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