2022
Pahlmeyer Chardonnay Napa Valley
New Release
Our 2022 Chardonnay is a masterful balance of opulence and vibrancy. Stone fruit aromatics give way to a fresh tropical lift with underscoring hints of toasted marshmallow and flint. This Chardonnay is concentrated and focused on the palate, unfurling a rich tapestry of crushed Marcona almond, freshly baked macaroon, and preserved lemon buoyed by dynamic acidity. The palate is textured and rich while bright and lively, with intense, ever-evolving flavors that linger through the finish. Exhibiting a full, layered palate upon release, this wine will continue to gain detail and depth over the next 5-7 years of careful cellaring.
— Katie Vogt, Winemaker
100% Chardonnay
- Winemaker
- Katie Vogt
- Alcohol
- 14.4%
- Harvested Start Date
- August 24, 2022
- Harvested End Date
- September 10, 2022
- Bottled Date
- August 2, 2023
- Release Date
- March 12, 2024
Winemaking Notes
We picked our Chardonnay from high-elevation vineyards in Napa Valley and select blocks in Carneros during the cool of the night. Each whole cluster was meticulously hand sorted at the winery before pressing, and the two press cuts were segregated and aged separately. The juice naturally settled in stainless steel tanks until ready to rack to barrel. Our top lots were racked to new French oak barrels where they completed primary fermentation via partially native yeasts. After primary fermentation, the lots remained on lees and were stirred up to three times per week through malolactic fermentation to create a rich, luscious texture. In April 2023, the selected lots were racked off heavy lees, blended in tank, then returned to barrel for final aging. The wine continued to age on lees in 100% new François Frères oak barrels for 12 months and was bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Having toured Stagecoach vineyard with Pahlmeyer winemaker Katie Vogt and talked at length about her strict focus on expressing site, I couldn’t stop thinking about the Chardonnay wines I’d sampled. Near the end of the year, I got my hands on the 2022 release of this iconic label’s Chardonnay, and it’s the kind of structured, powerful, intensely flavorful Chardonnay that you’d want to stockpile in the cellar. It conveys a duality of power and restraint. Knockout aromas of white peach, pineapple, and salted lemon peel, coconut, and wet stone. Full and rich with an extraordinary depth of sweet, creamy fruit that inundates the palate, suspended by an equally penetrating core of saline minerality infused with a luxurious finish of almond pastry notes, dried apricots, and white flowers. One of the most memorable young Chardonnays I tasted all year. Aged in 100% new Francois Ferrer heavy toast oak barrels. Number four of my top 10 wines of 2023.
