2019 Chardonnay – Own the Day

About the wine:

Reminiscent of Chablis style, our Chardonnay is lighter and crisper than you may expect from a lightly oaked expression of this classic grape.  Notes of honeydew, tart pineapple and baking vanilla round out the clean acidity.  Think seafood – scallops or prawns in a cream sauce.  Or think decadent – crab or lobster with drawn butter.

Technical stats:

Acid:  4.65 g/L
pH: 3.63
Residual Sugar: 0.91 g/L
Alcohol: 12.7%
Production: 93 cases
Grape variety:  Chardonnay
Vineyard Location: Peachland
Harvested: Oct 25, 2019
Bottled:  May 2, 2020
Winemaking: The grapes were harvested by hand and then gently whole cluster pressed.  The juice was chilled and after settling for 48 hours, racked from solids and transferred to a new French oak barrel and the balance in a stainless steel tank.  Inoculated with a selected yeast strain, the fermentation was kept cool 14-16°C with fermentation taking 3 weeks.  Once dry, the wine was encouraged to begin ML conversion which has added an extra layer of complexity to the wine’s palate.   ML was terminated prior to diacetyl production as it was felt that the wine was rich enough without any of the buttery characteristic that diacetyl contributes.   The wine aged on gross lees for 8 months without lees stirring before being blended, stabilized, crossflow filtered and then bottled in early May 2020.