David Finlayson Chardonnay 2019
Hand picked Chardonnay grapes, from 4 blocks planted with French CY95 and California CY 8 and CY 9 clones. Vine age ranges from 20 -30 years and planting density is around 3500 plants per acre. Grapes are harvested in several stages, to provide layers of complexity and blending components (22 Brix up to 25 Brix). Grapes are whole bunch pressed and then fermented in 300 liter barrels, with roughly 20% new French oak and the balance up to 5 years old. About 10% is fermented in concrete eggs. Barrel portion is fermented with natural yeasts. Maturation period runs 10 – 11 months with only 30% going through Malo. Prior to bottling, wine is filtered via Vegecol, X Flow filtration and then fined with Bentonite. 15,000 bottles were produced.
90 pts Wine Spectator
90 pts Tim Atkin
In 2019 most vineyards were just starting to recover from the 3 years drought preceding the harvest. Good rains meant that early ripening vines like the Chardonnay were able to mature the grapes without any restraint and the wines turned out well balanced and very fruit forward. This is David’s 13th vintage of Chardonnay here. The wine is made from 4 different vineyards. As with previous vintages, the wine shows an elegant minerality with lime-citrus, sourdough and cinnamon flavors. The tight minerality keeps a wonderful acid grip on the palate showing good aging potential. There are some distinct similarities to the flavors found in cooler Burgundian and Chablis sites – perhaps most noticeably, Meursault. The focus here is to make elegant wines that work with food.
