C H A R D O N N A Y

2016 ESTATE CHARDONNAYCIENEGA VALLEY

Under Vine Since 1849 - Eden Rift is perhaps the oldest, continually producing estate vineyards in California. A remote, pacific refuge located under the shadow of the Gavilan Mountain Range, the estate rests on the San Andreas Fault and is part of the Cienega Valley AVA. Only 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean, this site benefits from an ideal, temperate maritime climate as well as the coveted calcareous soils requisite in the cultivation of bright, minerally Chardonnay.

CELLAR NOTESChardonnay grapes from two estate blocks were hand-harvested over four separate days in September. Fruit from Block T, a terraced planting, as well as Block O, a field-blend of both clones 4 and “Dijon” 76, provide the foundation of this wine. At the winery, the Chardonnay was whole-cluster pressed with the resulting juice transferred to a holding tank for cold-settling. Following 24 hours of settling the juice was racked to French oak barrels for fermentation. A majority of the barrels were allowed to ferment on native yeasts while the balance was inoculated with Montrachet yeast. Ultimately, the wine was aged “sur-lie” with battonage occurring every week. The wine’s malolactic was so extended as to delay bottling to December 11, 2017.

WINEMAKER NOTES“The 2016 growing season was redundant, in the best of ways. Think the premise of the film Groundhog Day; it was a season where every day was like the one before. No heat spikes. No frosts. No inclement weather. There were some strong winds during flowering and set but overall, Mother Nature took care of the fruit in 2016. Such factors allowed us to achieve great hang-times and flavor development. In the cellar, we, like normal, stayed out of the way and allowed Mother Nature do her thing.”

“I’ll always remember this vintage because of how long the malolactic fermentations took to complete. Come nine months in barrel they were still ticking along slowly. Come ten months, the same thing. It was the same in every lot. Ultimately, after a dozen months, all the lots crossed the finish line. Of course, we are not ones to rush things around the cellar, and truth be told we actually kinda relish allowing a wine to show itself, even if that means it’s temperamental nature. In the case of the 2016 Estate Chardonnay, the resulting wine shows great focus, epitomizing nature of the Eden Rift Estate. The calcareous, mountain soil. The wind off the Pacific. The tension of the faultline. It is bright with notes of gala apple, lemon peel, orange cream, white flowers and mineral notes.”

10034 Cienega Road | Hollister, California 95023 | (831) 636-1991

2016 CHARDONNAY

ESTATE

CIENEGA VALLEY

EDENRIFT.COM

HARVEST DATA

Harvest Dates

Block | Clone(s)

Average Tons/Acre

WINE DATA

Composition (percentage by clone)

Barrel Program

Fermentation

pHTotal AcidityAlcohol

Bottling DateRelease Date

Case Production

September 15, 26, 29 & 30

Block O | Clone 4 & 76Block T (upper) | Clone 4 & 76Block T (lower) | Clone 4 & 76

4.16

100% ChardonnayClone 4 - 53%

Clone 76 - 47%

100% French oak | 18% NewAged 14 months

78% Native, 22% Montrachet100% BF | 100% ML

3.366.6 g/L14.2%

December 11, 2017December 2017

1,290 cases (750 ml)60 cases (1.5 ltr)