Winemaker Notes
For our chardonnay, we have adopted a style that deliberately uses a combination of oak and stainless steel to emphasize the crisp freshness of our organic fruit. Our organic fruit from Mendocino others the characteristic flavors of green and baked apples, pears, and citrus to our chardonnay. We ferment 70% of the juice in a combination of French and American oak, which is allowed to undergo malolactic fermentation to create a rich creamy wine with just a touch of new oak spice.  The remaining 30% is fermented in stainless steel to preserve the crisp fresh fruit flavors. We age most of the wine using previously-used or neutral oak in order for these fresh fruit characteristics to shine through. New oak was used for just 16% of the wine to give this chardonnay a nice vanilla note. An initial impression of rich, buttery cream turns to aromas of honey and toasted almonds, quickly followed by pineapple, lemon and creme brulee.  This wine has a refreshing, bright, clean minerality with a vibrant tartness and lemon zest that is distinctly Bonterra Chardonnay.