Vineyard: 100% Willamette Valley chardonnay from mixed marine sediment soils planted between 1984-2017:
57% Belle Colline Vineyard, Chehalem Mountains: organic, non-irrigated mixed Dijon clone
43% Yamhill Vineyard, Yamhill-Carlton: own-rooted 37-year-old Wente/108 and younger Wente/108 on rootstock
Vintage: Bud break occurred during a warm week in mid-April, and May was warm and dry. After an early start to bloom, the second week of June brought cooler, breezy, and humid weather, with 1.25 inches of rain. Flowering finished closer to average timing in the second and third weeks of June. At the end of the month, a strong high- pressure system trapped extreme heat in the valley for three days, causing daytime highs to reach 115F and causing the vines to shut down. July was seasonably warm and dry, with the heat intensifying towards the end of the month. Early August was hot and dry, reaching a peak of 105 F in the second week before cooling off towards the end of the month. September was a very pleasant month, with warm days, cool evenings, and just enough precipitation. I began picking in the Dundee Hills on August 30th and I finished in the Eola-Amity Hills on September 22nd.
Vinification: Belle Colline was hand-picked 9/6/21, crushed into the press and browned for 8 hours before a 50ppm sulfur addition. Ambient yeast fermentation began with pied de cuve in warming steel tanks with before being transferred with solids to once and third fill 265L and 350L Damy puncheons. Primary progressed leisurely, completing alongside malolactic between March and May 2022. Yamhill Vineyard was picked 9/11/21, wholecluster pressed and browned for 12 hours before 45ppm sulfur addition. Ambient yeast fermentation began in stainless steel with pied de cuve before being transferred with solids to a once fill 350L Damy puncheon and old barrels. Primary fermentation was slow After ambient malolactic engaged in December, Yamhill was racked into steel, then back into old barrels and steel drum in March 2022. I employed lees stirring more than typical for both lots, which were dry and sulfured by the middle to late summer 2022. After one year, a blend was made in steel from 57% Belle Colline and 43% Yamhill Vineyard from 40% once filled 265L barrels, 20% third fill 350L puncheons and 40% neutral 228L barrels with fine lees. After six months in steel, the 2021 Marine Chardonnay will be bottled 2/28/23 under CWINE3 cork. No fining or filtration.