Vineyard: 100% Willamette Valley Chardonnay from The Eyrie Vineyards picked on 9/18/23

Organically farmed, non-irrigated 1968-planted Draper selection, hailing from European plant material brought to Draper Ranch, Napa Valley in the 1930’s. Planted in pure Jory silty clay loam soils over volcanic basalt in 1968 on own-roots. Vines spaced 9x5, facing south between 350’-375’ on a 9% slope

Vintage: The 2023 growing season began cool and wet, with late April bringing warmth and dry conditions. Bud break occurred in early to mid-May, followed by bloom in early to mid-June. Fruit set was typical and the vines thrived over a hot and dry July and August. Cooler days and chilly nights arrived in September, with scattered showers that refreshed the vines. Harvest began leisurely with four picks between 9/6 - 9/11. The pace quickened with eight picks between 9/15 - 9/22. Yields were average, and the overall chemistry was good to great. I crushed each lot into the press and extracted more the later the pick. I browned most of the must 6-24 hours before sulfur addition. Vineyard specific pied de cuve was used to initiate fermentation in steel before transferring the must to oak with full solids. In select lots, I added sulfur after fermentation started. Ambient yeasts were highly effective as most lots were bone dry within 10-25 days. More than half of the cellar completed ambient malolactic in November or December 2023. The remainder finished malolactic between April and July 2024 with much more reduction. The wines were blended in steel the last week of August 2024 for a second winter on lees in steel and racked clean in late January 2025. The 2023 vintage has exceptional pedigree and clear site expression. The wines have high acidity, alcohol ranging 12.4%-13.1%. They are beautifully aromatic, crystalline, coiled, full of dry extract, long and structured.

Vinification: Hand-picked 9/18/23, the old vine Draper clone from Eyrie was crushed into the press and pressed long and hard. The must browned in steel for 24 hours before a 40ppm SO2 addition. Ambient yeast fermentation started in steel within a week and the must was transferred with full solids to one new 228L French oak barrel. Primary completed in 12 days and malolactic finished in July 2024. After one year in 100% new oak, the wine was racked with lees to steel. The 2023 Eyrie Vineyard Chardonnay aged an additional six months in steel on lees. Closed with 49mm DIAM 30. Unfined/unfiltered.

Chemistry: 6.4 g/L TA | 3.26 pH | 12.96% | >0.5g/L RS | 0.5 g/L VA | >.1 g/L malic | ~40ppm SO2 (free)