Aroma: This wine is bursting with flinty almost smokey notes, minerals,
green apple, Meyer lemon, Bartlett pear, white flowers, and spices.
Palate: We inhibit malolactic fermentation, so the aromatics are not muted
by overbearing buttery notes. The palate follows the nose, and is bright with
crisp acidity, but isn't lean due to barrel fermentation and lees exposure.
Green apple and citrus mingle with toasty notes from the barrel. This is one
of the best efforts we have had to date with our Chardonnay.
2012 Weather Conditions: 2012 was one of the easiest growing seasons in
Napa for decades. Bud break, flowering, and pollination went smoothly
creating arguably one of the best fruit sets any spring has brought us. The
warm, but not too hot summer, gently and evenly ripened this bumper crop,
creating a large, and remarkably even bounty. Harvest was warm, and dry,
which allowed us to gradually bring in grapes at their peak.