Yeah, I know, everyone
is bored silly with chardonnay. But this is a wine that reminds
us why we like to drink chardonnay. Bien Nacido custom farms these
30+ year old vines; meticulous care is taken to assure only the
best fruit is retained, and from this we were able to make a wine
that is both light on its feet and monumental in its intensity.
This is because Bien Nacido is planted in a great spot for chardonnay,
the natural acidity from the grapes here tempering the unctuous,
low yield, old vine fruit.
We are using older barrels
to raise this wine in. Mind you, this is not an economy move--we
could save a hell of a lot more money if we chose to accept even
slightly higher yields in the vineyard--but a conscious choice
of style. In many cases, and in this vineyard in particular, I
find the use of new oak barrels in the aging of chardonnay often
overwhelms vineyard distinctiveness and negatively affects drinkability
and food friendliness. To put it more succinctly, this wine tastes
better when we don't muck it up with oak.