Violin Wines Chardonnay 2020

12.7% abv
100% barrel fermented, then rest on the lees in steel for 4 months after malolactic is completed in barrel.  The color is a light yellow-gold.  The aromas and flavors here mesh 2 juxtaposed sites, Soujeau and Balck Walnut.  Black Walnut is tense, fresh, saline with vibrant acidity and textures - citrus, rocks and shells.  The Soujeau adds fleshier, rounder notes with more body: fresh and elegant pear, apple, Meyer lemon, and orange blossom.  This is more taught and complex than the 2019, the palate is med/med+, very complex, with med+ persistence and finish.

A two vineyard blend from Sojeau 50% (Eola Amity Hills) and Black Walnut 50% (Dundee). Incredible balance and purity, tightly wound and precise while remaining generously quaffable.  A mixed block from Black Walnut Vineyard in the Dundee Hills and the low block of Sojeau make up this blend. At 900 feet, three clones on three acres at BW have a slightly Western tilt at the top of the ridge and see some shading from the neighboring forest that helps to slow down ripening dramatically as the season progresses into Fall. While Dundee is known for deep, volcanic clay, this cap on the hilltop has shallower soils where the vines find fractured basalt bedrock more rapidly in their early growth. Sojeau’s Chardonnay block is the boulder-field at the bottom of the steep site, and walking through this section can be treacherous. As like the Pinot noir, these vines have shown the perfect balance between vigor and restraint, and seem to take on a more robust textural strength from impact of marine breezes coming in through the Van Duzer Corridor to the immediate West. - Winery

Ambient yeasts start a primary fermentation that lasts between 30 to 50 days, and malolactic within several months. Stirring of lees was limited to primary fermentation and the beginning of ML, but did not occur for the majority of the barrel aging. Barrel aging is 12-14 months in used French oak.