"Sweet brioche and coconut husk aromatics create mouth watering visions in your mind. The acidity of the mid-palate helps to balance the unctuous stone fruit juice flavors. Slowly dissipating on the palate, lemon zest oil becomes a hint of honeydew, before one is left with the essence of wet stone." – Erin Green, Winemaker November 2011
Composition
100% Chardonnay
Vineyards
- Berlenbach Vineyard,
- Atlas Peak Vineyard
Critics
92 Points
Stephen Tanzer, International Wine Cellar, May/June 2004
Explosive aromas of pear, clove, honey, caramel and minerals. Fat, sweet and deep; thicker and a bit more complex than the Sonoma Coast offering, with intriguing notes of fresh herbs and minerals. Nicely integrated acids give shape to this very dense, layered chardonnay. Finishes with notes of caramel and spicy oak. These chardonnays were fermented in mostly new Francois Freres barrels, then aged in all new oak.
91 Points
James Laube, Wine Spectator, May 2004
An ultrarich yet polished style, with ripe, integrated spicy pear, hazelnut, butterscotch and toasty oak flavors that are intense and concentrated, finishing with a long, lingering aftertaste.
Winemaking
- Winemaker:
- Erin Green
- Alcohol:
- 14.9%
- Harvested:
- September 12 to October 5, 2002
- Bottled:
- August 20, 2003
- Released:
- June 1, 2004
The whole-cluster grapes, harvested at 24.8 brix, were barrel-fermented on native yeasts and aged in 100% new François Frères French oak barrels for 10 months. The wine also progressed through 100% malolactic fermentation without fining or filtration.
