2022 Wildcat Mountain

Chardonnay
Sonoma Coast

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About this Wine

The grapes for this Chardonnay came exclusively from Wildcat Mountain Vineyard, owned by Steve MacRostie and his partners, Nancy and Tony Lilly. The 2022 Wildcat Mountain Chardonnay reveals exotic layers of stone fruit, citrus, apricot, and starfruit, as well as French oak-inspired hints of graham cracker and hazelnut.

92-Point Chardonnay

92 Points

“Full in flavor but also nicely structured in acidity, this wine has an appetizing snap in the texture as well as vibrant, concentrated fruit notes. Grapefruit, nutmeg and toast aromas lead to layered Bosc pears and green apples along with herbal accents. Full-bodied. Drink now or hold. Screw cap.”

James Suckling

JamesSuckling.com, October 24, 2024

Tasting Notes

Accolades

Winemaking

Vintage

Vineyard

Tech. Notes

additional notes

Tasting Notes

The 2022 Wildcat Mountain Chardonnay reveals exotic layers of stone fruit, citrus, apricot, and starfruit, as well as French oak-inspired hints of graham cracker and hazelnut. On the palate, it is rich, intriguing, and beautifully textural with a beam of bright acidity adding poise and polish to a long, vibrant finish.

Accolades

92 Points: James Suckling JamesSuckling.com - October 24, 2024

Winemaking

The grapes went directly to press as whole clusters. The resulting juice was cold settled, racked off of its press lees, and moved directly to barrel for a cool fermentation. It was then aged in these same French oak barrels for 10 months, with 22% of the oak being new and 30% once used. The fermentation lees were stirred several times throughout the aging process. The very best barrels were then selected for our Wildcat Mountain Vineyard Chardonnay. The wine was bottled on August 15, 2023.

Vintage

The 2022 vintage was impacted by a third consecutive year of drought that resulted in up to a 10-30% reduction in yields. The growing season was temperate, which in grape growing means we were on track or ahead of normal growth. Then we saw some heat spikes that prompted our first picks. 2022 was a year for vintage-to-vintage variation and differentiation between vineyards. Grapes were picked from two distinct blocks planted to two different clones: 76 and 95, on September 29, 2022.

Vineyard

The grapes for this Chardonnay came exclusively from Wildcat Mountain Vineyard, owned by Steve MacRostie and his partners, Nancy and Tony Lilly. At Wildcat, the vines dig into the sparse volcanic soil and stand firm against the strong winds that race in off of the Pacific Ocean most afternoons. This fog-shrouded mountaintop vineyard is a classic Sonoma Coast site. Cool and challenging, it yields wines of great distinction.

Technical Notes

composition:
100% Chardonnay
alcohol: 14.2%
cases made:
643
bottling date: 08/15/2023
aging:
Aged 10 months in French oak, 22% new, 30% once used
fermentation:
Whole cluster pressed, cold settled, then racked to barrel for cool fermentation.

additional notes