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2008 Russian River Valley Chardonnay
With a color of brilliant honey and golden straw, this wine brings aromas of ripe Gravenstein apple, ghee, oak veneer, dried mango, sweet baked almond and crushed pineapple. On the tongue, flavors of poached pears, Bananas Foster, ground nutmeg, first touch of warm beach sand, olive oil and sweet lemon zest.
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Hanna Chardonnay grapes were hand harvested at night using tractors fitted with lights. The cold fruit was picked into half-ton bins and hauled the short distance to the winery in the morning. At this point we hand sorted the fruit using a custom made sorting conveyor. The fruit was then whole cluster pressed while still cold. The juice was cold settled then racked to 59 gallon French oak barrels for fermentation
A very dry spring became the worst frost season since 1974. Two sub 30 F nights- one in March and one in April burned newly emerged shoots in unprotected vineyards and augured a difficult season for those inclined to superstition. At the very least, in some vineyards crop was reduced significantly, in others less so but overall crop prediction was difficult. Mild foggy and dry late spring and early summer lead to a mid august fogless and hot period that reached its peak with a 108 F day on August 29th. This pushed the sugars up and had many predicting an early end to harvest. In September the fog returned and Chardonnay harvesting began and finished in a quick three day flurry beginning September 30. This was a week earlier than the 2007 vintage. The grapes were in excellent shape, clean and small clustered. Overall the vintage was a cool one with a total of 2723 degree days at Slusser.
With a color of brilliant honey and golden straw, this wine brings aromas of ripe Gravenstein apple, ghee, oak veneer, dried mango, sweet baked almond and crushed pineapple. On the tongue, flavors of poached pears, Bananas Foster, ground nutmeg, first touch of warm beach sand, olive oil and sweet lemon zest.
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