2017 Charles Heintz Vineyard

92 Points: Jeb Dunnuck JebDunnuck.com - June 2019

“From a well-known site in the Russian River Valley, the 2017 Chardonnay Charles Heintz Russian River Valley offers an exotic honeyed grapefruit, crushed citrus, white flower, and tangerine nose. It's rich, has a viscous, layered texture, good concentration, nicely integrated acidity, and a great finish. It's a singular, exotic (which is a hallmark of this vineyard) Chardonnay to enjoy over the coming 7-8 years.”

The 2017 growing season started off as a wet one. Record rainfall through April invigorated the vines and bolstered canopies. Moderate-to-warm temperatures followed, allowing the vines to bloom and mature fruit in a balanced and tempered way. We did apply more leafing in our canopy management to counter the invigorating effects of the rain. All of our Chardonnay blocks were picked prior to the devastating wine country fires in early October, leaving all wine lots free of possible smoke influence. Grapes were picked on September 26th, 2017.

Charles Heintz has been growing premium Chardonnay grapes for decades. His namesake vineyard is located in the westernmost part of the Russian River Valley, making it our coolest climate site. Charlie himself has said, “It’s like growing Chardonnay in a rain cloud out here.”

• composition:

  100% Chardonnay

• alcohol: 14.5%
• cases made:

  162 Cases

• bottling date: 08/13/2018
• aging:

  Aged 10 months sur lie in French oak, 86% one-year-old

• fermentation:

  Whole cluster pressed then racked into French oak for primary and malolactic fermentation.