All fruit was sourced from our own vineyard – located within the coolest, westernmost reaches of the Casablanca Valley. Sourced from blocks planted with ungrafted Chardonnay of the “Mendoza clone” and French clones on yellow sandy loams. The Mendoza selection has low yields of small, thick-skinned berries. French clones have larger berries and more expressive fruit aromas. After a hot and dry season, the grapes were harvested in March. Only a small crop of an average of 2.5 tons per hectare (1.0 tons per acre) was brought in, due to spring frosts and bad fruit set. Harvest occurred at night, with an ambient temperature of around 8°C (46ºF). Upon arrival at the winery, all grapes were first destemmed and crushed to the pneumatic press. The resulting juices were left to cold settle (at 10ºC/50ºF) for a day following which time the juice was racked to stainless steel tanks, inoculated with selected yeasts and transferred to a mixture of used French oak barrels and stainless steel tanks. About 50% of the wine was fermented in mostly second-use French oak barrels. Temperatures during the fermentation in barrel peaked at 18ºC (or 65ºF). About 40% of the wine underwent malolactic fermentation, before the barrels were sulfited. Bâttonage was carried out monthly for the following 6 months. After a total of 6 months in barrel and tanks the final blend was made and the wine was cold stabilized, filtered and bottled.