Lynmar Chardonnay Quail Hill(2004)

PHILOSOPHY Quail Hill Vineyard Chardonnay is the definitive expression of Chardonnay from our 42-acre home estate. Only the finest barrels from fully barrel fermented lots are included. Our goal is to craft a consistent expression of our distinctive terroir through a wine that is elegant, complex, balanced, and age worthy.2004 GROWING SEASON While 2004 will be remembered as the earliest harvest in 50 years, it was nonetheless a long, cool growing season that should yield some exceptional wines. An unusually warm winter led to early budbreak, and the threat of frost. Fortunately this threat read more...did not materialize, and the grapes matured through a mainly uneventful spring and summer. Heat spikes in late August passed before our late-ripening Chardonnay site was most vulnerable. Chardonnay harvest started the second week of September. Multiple passes in single blocks enabled us to harvest fruit at optimal ripeness. Cooling in mid-late September allowed some of the later ripening blocks to enjoy some extra hang time, the final picks finishing in early October. THE WINEMAKING All fruit was hand-harvested early in the morning and immediately transported to the winery while still cool, then handsorted before being gently whole-cluster pressed. The resultant juice was only lightly settled and then transferred to a combination of new and used 60-gallon French oak barrels for fermentation. Barrel coopers for this vintage were Latour, Mercurey, Francois Freres, Seguin-Moreau and Rousseau. 2004 marked Lynmar's second vintage of native yeast fermentations, with the vast majority of Chardonnay going through native fermentations. Lees were stirred weekly through malolactic fermentation, which contributed richness and body to the wine. After 14 months in barrel on original lees, the selected barrels were racked into stainless steel tanks for further settling before bottling. The primary lots for this blend came from our "New" block (14-year old Rued selection) complemented by select barrels from "C-3" and "C-4" blocks. TASTING NOTES Aromas of lemon panna cotta, grapefruit, Asian pear and fresh biscuits are the first introduction to this wine. The flavors are complex and subtle, revealing bright key lime, verbena and Gravenstein apple notes, balanced by ginger, clove and a briny minerality. The floral lily note typical of Rued clone Chardonnay is also present, as is a hint of kiwi on the finish. The emerging leesy/yeasty quality will get richer with bottle age. Drink from mid-2006 onwards. WINE INFORMATION: Varietal Composition 100% Chardonnay, estate grown & bottled Winemaker Hugh Chappelle Consulting Winemaker Paul Hobbs Consulting Viticulturist Greg Adams Aging 14 mo. in small (60 gal.) French oak barrels (35% new) Cases Produced 1,529 cases (9L equiv.) Alcohol 14.4% T.A. 0.70 g/100 ml pH 3.45    (hide)