Spring Release Highland Divide Chardonnay
2019

Winemaker’s Notes

Precisely crafted from three of our greatest single vineyards, our 2019 Highland Divide Chardonnay possesses a concentration and viscosity that can only come from mature vines, low yields, and restrictive hillside soils. It is a wine grown in the vines, not conceived in the cellar, the product of Nature and winegrowing in beautiful equilibrium. For this vintage, we fermented and aged a parcel of Estate vines, comprising 20% of the blend, in our new thick-stave Austrian oak foudre—a magnificent combination of fruit and craft.

There’s wonderful intensity to the wine’s aromatics: grapefruit, lime, lemongrass, and flint, with rich oatmeal and fresh bread elements followed by an edge of cool mint. The wine is immediately oily and viscous with a generous creamy texture. Deep stone and orchard fruits dominate, offset by flinty, savory botanical notes. Vibrant acidity brings detailed focus to the wine’s finish, its natural richness balanced by oyster shell freshness and lingering ginger spice. Drink soon after release or hold through 2027, allowing the vibrant coastal fruit to merge with the oily, richer elements that develop with maturity.

Andy Smith