2006 Reserve Chardonnay

Recent Tasting Notes

Creamy vanilla and butterscotch notes, flintiness, young. In the mouth sweet cream, pears, mineral flavors, creamy finish. 

Winemaker's Notes

2006 began with snow and continued wet through the Spring with 26 days of rain in March. Early Summer heat followed by mild temperatures allowed the vineyard to produce excellent fruit. Our harvest began on September 19 and the juice measured:

Following techniques I learned during my internship at Domaine des Comtes Lafon in Meursault, France, we barrel-fermented the juice in new and one-year-old French oak barrels to give the wine a toasty vanilla aroma and a richness on the palate. After primary fermentation, we moved half of this wine with its lees (yeast sediment) to older French oak barrels to allow the wine to develop and age without becoming too oaky. Then all of the Reserve underwent malolactic fermentation. This traditional Burgundian technique converted the grapes’ natural malic acid to the softer lactic acid and added richness and complexity to the wine.

The Reserve was then aged sur lies (on its sediment) in barrels in our caves for 15 months and the lees were stirred every two weeks to give the wine a creamy texture and a flinty aroma. The wine was bottled in February 2008 with:

Youthful elegance is an excellent descriptor of the 2006 Reserve Chardonnay. Sweet pear and citrus aromas give the wine its structure and balance; roasted nuts and mineral flavors from its barrel fermentation and extended barrel aging enhance its bouquet. Vanilla cream and brioche notes from malolactic fermentation add richness and complexity to the palate. Youthful and lovely now, the 2006 Reserve has the structure and balance to age for at least three more years.

April 2009