2009 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
SOLD OUT!
2009 was a remarkable year for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. A grape grower friend of mine commented that 2009 was the easiest season in recent memory—by which he meant that nothing went wrong, and that the vines were extraordinarily cooperative. This “ease,” and I by ease I mean relatively speaking because growing good grapes is never completely easy, extended all the way through harvest, at least for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. What excites me most about the wines from 2009 is that they are rich and concentrated without being “big,” and that they are fresh, vibrant and energetic while at the same time being quite intense. Often in California high concentration is accompanied by high ripeness, but in 2009 that was not the case. In terms of the flavors in the wine, 2009 and 2008 could scarcely be more different, occupying the two extremes of the scale—2008 gave wines of immediate pleasure, forward, fruity, ripe, yummy. 2009 gave wines of very high concentration, but streamlined too. Intense without being “big.” The 2009 Chardonnay is less juicy and fruity than the 2008. The best way I can think to describe it is that it has a happy combination of floral, citrus blossomy notes with something more minerally and savory underneath. More classically proportioned, perhaps even a bit old fashioned. It strikes me as a fairly “big” wine, in that its character is a little, well, assertive, but it is not big in the high alcohol, oaky, blowsy way. While I think it shows a little more toastiness than the 2008, the oak is still pretty restrained, with the fruit and the vineyard assuming center stage. Which is as it should be. 2009 gave me 225 cases.
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