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Appellation
Yakima Valley
Bottled
August 2009
Production
214 cases
Alcohol
14%
Price
$15.00

Chardonnay 2007

Complexity for the Nose

In the winemaking for our Chardonnay, we strive to build upon the flavors that come from the grape itself. Of course, the grape lays the foundation, and is therefore responsible for the fruit quality of a wine. Thus, we have the apple, pineapple and pear qualities of our 2008 Chardonnay. A winemaker can choose through the process of vinification to hold a wine as close to the fruit as possible, or to add to those layers flavors and aromas from fermentation and processing. We choose the latter.

Beginning with the fruit, we select our grapes from Charlie and Connie Crawford’s home vineyard. This field is lower elevation, which receives a little more heat and is home to some healthy twenty year old vines. We have found that the apple and pineapple qualities of this grape variety mature easily here. These flavors are further developed by the open trellising system that allows sunlight directly on the fruit.

To craft our style of Chardonnay, we like to build these layers carefully and with a soft hand. We choose to barrel ferment our juice and then age the wine on the lees (sediment of the fruit and yeast). We follow this with an eight to twelve month aging in small oak barrels. These choices build a soft oaky flavor, plus hints of vanilla, spice and bread yeast. Our use of only 20% new oak with this vintage means that the woodiness will be a nuance, a subtle intricacy to our wine, rather than a dominant flavor or aroma. We also use malo-lactic fermentation to soften the acidity and mouth-feel of the wine, which works to contribute a hint of a buttery note to the final symphony of flavors.

A wine such as this is more in the French style, relying not only on the terrior, or flavors coming from the vineyard, but on the winemaking process as well. This wine is more food versatile than its fruity or oaky cousins; we recommend it with baked or barbequed fish, pork, or poultry. It will stand up to and compliment the smoke of a barbeque or the butter of a basting. This then will give a truly delightful sensory complexity for your nose.

Source: Crawford Family Vineyards, Prosser WA

Bottled August 2009

Production: 214 Cases