Winemaking Process

Our Chardonnay
We maintain the same classic methods of vinification for all our Chardonnays: first, the fruit is hand sorted to ensure that only the most perfect clusters are gently pressed. We believe that allowing the juice to ferment naturally, with indigenous yeast, in small French oak barrels allows for the truest and most balanced expression of the varietal.

A selection of artisan coopers, whose barrels complement our Chardonnays, are carefully chosen; the subtle variation from cooper to cooper and old barrel to new, combined with the individuality of natural fermentations, gives an inherent complexity to the final blend.

Once malolactic fermentation is complete, the weekly batônnage, or stirring of the lees, is performed to further enhance body and richness. The wine continues to age in barrel while the aromas and flavors achieve maturity. Once the desired level of complexity is obtained, it is time for bottling. We do not believe in fining or filtering our wine, so it goes directly from barrel to bottle exactly as it was carefully crafted over the course of many months.

Our Pinot Noir
When making our Pinot Noir, we first hand sort the fruit before removing the berries from the stems. We place the whole berries, without crushing, into the fermenter, where they will "cold soak' for four days to extract a maximum of fruit character. The grapes will then begin the fermentation process where they are gently "punched down" two times a day.

The relatively cool fermentations are closely monitored and decisions to increase or decrease punch downs or to implement delestage or other techniques are made based on what we are tasting and observing as the grapes ferment.

Once we feel we have achieved proper extraction and the fermentation is complete, we drain the tanks directly to barrel where the wine will go through malolactic fermentation and will continue to age for approximately 14 months or until the wine has achieved proper maturity. As with our Chardonnays, our Pinot Noir is neither fined nor filtered prior to bottling.