instead of the traditional cooling winds from the Pacific. These "sugar winds" moved Brix in the grapes into balance with acid levels so that even with an early ripening, the fruit was fully mature, with flavors that will continue to evolve beautifully with time. ON THE WINE From the beginning, nearly three decades ago, Les Pierres has delivered a wine worthy of our Grand Cru approach. The color is fine yellow gold, with perfect clarity, and aromas of honeycomb, rose petal, lime zest and freshly sliced green apple join the familiar Les Pierres flinty mineral backbone. As you enjoy drinking the wine you'll find a focused and mineral entry on the palate to broadening flavors of the Fuji pear, fresh peach and a light touch of cream. Digging deeper brings along honey and a delicate lemon touch. The floral notes recall Acacia flowers, common in the springtime Burgundy countryside. Our careful approach to oak aging, which begins with six months in one year old French oak before re-barreling into mostly neutral French oak for another year, adds jus the right touch of fresh baked bread crust. The structure is mineral, firm, balanced, elegant and focused. A wonderfully long finish is classic Les Pierres, tight, lemon-mineral, extending with great acidity. This is a great example of what this storied vineyard has to offer, in a great year for Chardonnay. ON THE VINEYARD Les Pierres sits atop gravelly clay loam in an ancient river bed thick with cobbled stones from the Sonoma Mountain caldera, formed eons ago from ancient volcanic activity. The east facing slope of the vineyard lies relatively close to San Pablo Bay, sister to the more famous San Francisco Bay. Fog travels from the Bay and westerly from the Pacific Ocean's Estero Americano, cutting through the hamlet of Valley Ford, across the Cotati Gap and on into the Valley of the Moon, arriving each day to modulate the warm Sonoma Valley temperatures, extending hang time to create a long growing season allowing full maturation and ripening of one of our most hallowed vineyards. High density planting of vines on varying rootstocks support a variety of Chardonnay clones, notably 4, 76, 15 and 131 on vines averaging but a dozen years old. Each season we cast a close eye to thin to keep clusters in perfect balance, achieving deep, complex flavors that speak to the leanness of the Les Pierres soil. Please enjoy our wines responsibly.    (hide)