The Clones
This wine is made from 66% of clone 115 and 33% of the Pommard clone. The small, berried clone 115 contributes intense fruit notes to the wine, while Pommard adds structure, earthiness and minerality.
Winemaking
To enhance its natural complexity and rustic style, this wine was fermented entirely as whole clusters. The fruit was hand sorted and then transferred to stainless steel open-top fermenters. Indigenous yeasts performed the fermentation without any commercial yeast being added. Gentle punch downs were done once to twice daily during the 19-day long maceration period, which was followed by using a traditional manual basket press. Most of the free-run wine was drained directly into French oak puncheons (450-liter barrels). The balance, including the press fraction, went to one and two-year old French oak Burgundy barrels, which were selected from our Chardonnay barrel program. The wine was aged for 16 months in barrel and an additional 2 months in tank before being bottled unfiltered and un-fined.
