Much like our Black Label Pinot Noir, this wine is a reserve-level blend of our favorite barrels from the vintage. The 2019 is crafted from three of the most extreme, cold, wind-battered, low yielding sites in Sta Rita Hills (if not anywhere). Thus, we combined wines from rocky, windswept Bentrock (50%), steep, diatomaceous Rita’s Crown (25%) and the salty, marine and gale force wind influenced Radian (25%). These difficult sites, produce small clusters of thick skinned, tiny berry Chardonnay that has massive punch, but also strong acidity and minerality. The wine was fermented and aged on its lees in French oak barriques (75% new) with partial malolactic fermentation occurring spontaneously in barrel. The resulting wine is aged for 18 months on its lees without stirring, before selection, blending and bottling.
This dramatic wine displays incredibly concentrated flavors of fruit, minerals, spices and flowers, which are held aloft by tremendous acidity and structure from the skins and from lightly toasted new oak barrels. The wine has a terrific, complex finish that lasts for minutes and portends a good future over the medium term.