We have now worked with this special vineyard for 20 years! Stiling never fails to provide delicious, classic Russian River character with a floral Rued clone twist. Having discovered with the 2018 vintage that this fruit loves extended barrel age and a bit more new oak, we rolled right into the 2019 with a specific goal in mind and the results speak for themselves.
32 months later (double the time afforded to our regular Chardonnay) we bottled the utterly gorgeous, unabashedly old school results unfiltered and with a bare minimum of sulfur to produce the most luscious Chardonnay in our portfolio.
Golden straw colored in the glass, this full bodied, sumptuous wine satisfies the palate completely. Wonderfully rich, it’s loaded with roasted apple and stone fruit flavors wrapped in caramel, clove and nutmeg followed by a long and fresh lemon oil finish. Barrel contributions are integrated beautifully after all those months to harmonize. The long, slow exposure to tiny amounts of oxygen has been the transformative element, beautifully polishing and knitting everything together into one seamless flow.
Normally it would take many years in your cellar for a wine to achieve this development, yet there’s plenty of freshness and structure to allow further evolution. Reach for this one when you want something truly special.