"($35) Bright yellow. Energetic aromas of tangerine, pear and tarragon underscored by dusty, faintly smoky minerals. Suave, gently sweet and mellower on the palate than the Sonoma Coast bottling, offering pliant flavors of orange and poached pear, along with a touch of anise. Shows good concentration and finishes with a firming, bitter note of quinine." (IWC)
"Structure marks this fine wine, made from MacRostie’s signature vineyard. Although you’ll find a wealth of pineapples, Fuji apples and ripe pears, it has a minerality that makes it firm, and a clean, acidic finish. Elegant and classy, and could age for six years." (WE)
Winery Notes:
ORIGIN:
The grapes for this Chardonnay came exclusively from our Wildcat Mountain Vineyard, owned by Steve MacRostie and his partners Nancy and Tony Lilly. Here the vines dig into the sparse volcanic soil and stand firm against the strong winds that race in off of the Pacific Ocean most afternoons. This fog-shrouded mountaintop vineyard is a classic Sonoma Coast site, cool and challenging, and produces wines of great distinction.
VINEYARD NOTES:
The 2007 growing season was very close to perfect. No spring frosts, no serious hot spells, and no significant rain prior to harvest. All of our grapes achieved optimum flavor ripeness without excessive sugar levels, and maintained their natural acid balance. Yields were customarily low, around three tons per acre, resulting in fruit of intense flavor. The blend is made up of a selection from four clonal blocks: 95, 15, 4, and Wente. These grapes were harvested between September 15 and 25 , 2007.
WINEMAKING NOTES:
The grapes went direct to press as whole clusters. The resulting juice was cold settled, racked off its press lees, and moved directly to barrel for a cool fermentation. It was aged in these same French oak barrels, 25% of which were new, for 10 months. The fermentation lees were stirred several times once malolactic conversion was complete, and then the wine was left to slumber. After enough time had passed for the flavors to fully develop, the best barrels from each lot were selected to form the Wildcat Mountain Vineyard blend. The wine was bottled on August 4, 2008.
TASTING NOTES:
Classic pale straw in color, with profound aromas of honey, lime oil, and custard, with hints of whole-wheat toast and wet stone. In the mouth it is lush with ripe tropical fruit and manages to be very rich yet light at the same time, almost like drinking a Meyer lemon soufflé. The finish is quite clean but lingers for several minutes. |
