Tech Notes
Yield: 1.5 tons per acre (70 tons purchased)
Harvest: September 19th-October 5th
Numbers @ Harvest: 23.3° Brix, 3.4 pH, 7.6 grams acidity
Barrel Regimen: French & American Oak 2/3rds new; 100% Barrel Fermented; 100% Malolactic
Bottling: June 2009
Alcohol: 14%
Tasting Notes
Release Date: Spring 2010
Jean-Pierre Wolff farms 55 acres of Chardonnay in Edna Valley’s oldest vineyard. A combination of cool weather and drought reduced the chardonnay crop to a mere 1.5 tons per acre, an historic low. Because the clusters were so small and infrequent, the grapes matured unusually early so the harvest finished before the end of September for the first time in twenty three years.
What does this all mean? Great concentration in the nose of citrus, guava, mint with a complexing note of ocean air. Full and rich yet with restraint and finesse on the palate, this Chardonnay offers green apple, ripe pear and, once again, an ocean nuance. (This vineyard is within a rifle shot of the Pacific Ocean.) With low yields comes higher expression of terrior.