1998 CHARDONNAY
RESERVE
Talley-Rincon
Vineyard
Arroyo
Grande Valley
We
always get our Talley fruit from block 10 in Rincon
vineyard, and in 1998 that spot did excep-tionally
well. The large rainfall it received during the winter
of 97-98 made these struggling hillside vines happier
than usual. The crop was small, the vigor of the vines
moderate, the last few weeks of fruit maturation went
along at a leisurely pace. We chose the latest and
ripest of three picks from the vineyard to be our
reserve. The fruit was whole cluster pressed to French
oak barrels where it fermented for over a year before
finishing its secondary malo-lactic fermentation.
This, of course, drove me nuts with worry and challenged
my patience dearly, but I waited it out. It aged without
any interference at all until bottling in January
of this year. We neither fined nor filtered this wine,
and so nothing was lost as it went into the bottle.
If you are looking for a subtle, Burgundian chardonnay,
this is not the wine for you! This chardon-nay is
a huge flamboyant thing; lush and soft, it's absolutely
packed with flavor. Typical Talley aromas of pear
and lemon are followed by flavors of rich fruit with
cinnamon and butter. This is an amazing wine that
lingers and lingers on the palate. If bigger is better,
this is the best!