The 2020 The Key has amazing stone fruit and green melon aromas, as well as heady, perfumed notes that leap from the glass beckoning a first sip. As you taste the wine, it is vibrant and refreshing on the palate, striking an artful balance between energetic acidity, a rich creamy mouthfeel, and lush layers of delicious fruit.
The grapes went directly to press as whole clusters where they were gently pressed to provide a distinct mouthfeel and texture. After settling, the juice was racked into French oak barrels for fermentation. This wine spent its entire life in barrel where it completed secondary malolactic fermentation. After 10 months of aging in 20% new French oak, the wine was blended and put into 42% new and 33% once-filled oak. To further increase richness and body, the lees were occasionally stirred. Deemed aged to perfection, it was bottled on March 16, 2022.
We pride ourselves on working with growers who know the land intimately. Vintage after vintage, the partnerships we have with our growers provide us with beautiful fruit. Among its key vineyards, this blend combines fruit from four of our most prized sources; Olivet Lane, the Martinelli family’s Woolsey Road, Mirabelle Vineyard, and Day Ranch in Anderson Valley. Each component is carefully selected by our winemaking team to create the harmonious symphony that is “The Key.”
We are now in our seventh year of crafting master blends of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. We named these wines The Loch and The Key, both as a nod to our founder Steve MacRostie’s Scottish heritage and to his early experiences as a cryptographer in Europe for the U.S. Army. Combining decades of winemaking mastery with our rich history, The Loch and The Key are consummate blends, artfully crafted from our best blocks and barrels of wine. “Our goal is simple, but not easy,” says Winemaker Heidi Bridenhagen. “We search our cellar for our most beautiful wines of the vintage—stirring wines that sing on the palate. Then we begin blending.” Like a secret code unlocked by our winemakers, The Key embodies everything that we know about making great Chardonnay.
find near you
find near you
