Morning Ya'll,
Well, things at the winery have been picking up. We have been receiving packaging for our 2008 wines. Once the 2008 white wines go into bottle the much anticipated 2007 Reds will not be far behind. Both the 2008 Whites and 2007 Reds are tasting really nice and I am excited about seeing these go to bottle.
We will be "racking" (winemaker for saying, "coming out of barrel") the 2008 Estate Reserve Chardonnay. The barrels will be cleaned and the wine will return to barrel for several more months.20 This wine was fermented in barrel and will spend a total of 9 months in barrel before going to bottle. Half of the barrels were fermented with added yeast and the other half was fermented with natural yeast. After the fermentation the yeast was allowed to remain in contact with the wine. We call this extended contact sur lie (pronounced - sir lee) aging. It is a common technique used in Burgundian chardonnay.
When we age sur lie we develop a slight creaminess and nuttiness. What occurs over time is yeast break down releasing different aroma and flavor compounds. This results in increased complexity of our Estate Reserve Chardonnay and main line Chardonnay.
Our main line Chardonnay is aged sur lie for four months, but we ferment in tank rather than in barrel. We obtain nuttiness and creaminess along with the freshness and crispness that a tank ferment yields. Whether it be in tank or barrel I feel that Chardonnay is a varietal that benefits from sur lie aging.
I want to welcome James Thompson onto the Martha Clara team. Jim will serve as vineyard manager on the farm and brings a wealth of management experience. Many people have had the opportunity to meet him. We welcome Jim to the team and look forward to many great growing seasons!
Cheers,
Juan
