2006 Giuseppina

90 pts, Beverage Testing Institute, October 15, 2007 “Deep golden color. Rubber, sour cream, and spicy poached pear aromas. A round, silky entry leads to a dry medium body of apple and pear custard, burnt toffee, petrolly minerals, and delicate spices. Finishes with a gentle toasted oak, apple sauce, and charred nut fade.”

Our Los Carneros vineyard experiences cooling wind from the Pacific Ocean and fog cover during many mornings. With this, the grapes hang longer, ripen fully and develop big apple and pear characteristics. Grapes from our Sonoma Coast vineyard contributed a small portion for the blend. This vineyard also experiences the cooling effects of the Pacific fog, sometimes until noon, for most of the growing season, which is an ideal growing environment for Chardonnay.

The handpicked Chardonnay went directly to the de-stemmer. Grapes were then pumped to our tank press where the juice was gently extracted, then pumped to a settling tank and cooled to 55 degrees F and racked (decanted) to the fermenting tank. The racked juice had very low solids. A pure wine yeast was added and the fermentation was held at 55 degrees to maintain the fresh fruit character. When fermentation was completed, malolactic fermentation was introduced to soften the wine and create buttery flavors. The wine was chilled to 28 degrees F and filtered for bottling. Gentle barrel aging for six months contributes to the luscious toasty vanilla oak nuances and complements the nice long finish.

Rich and fruity, our Jacuzzi Chardonnay is quite unlike the popular crisp and leaner versions from Italy. Luscious apple and pear flavors with a toasty, vanilla-oak finish makes this wine an exquisite accompaniment to chicken with a tarragon cream sauce, Dungeness crab, or a nice piece of Gruyère.

Rich and fruity, our Jacuzzi chardonnay is quite unlike the popular crisp and leaner versions from Italy. Grown on our estate ranch in Carneros, the grapes are bathed in the cool morning fog and later warmed in the afternoon sun.