Rootdown Chardonnay, Cole Ranch 2023 (750 ml)

100% Chardonnay
Cole Ranch AVA - Mendocino, CA
Alcohol: 12.4%
TA: 6.4 g/L
pH: 3.43
Harvest Date: 10/6/2023
Bottled June 2024
184 cases Produced
Soil: "Cole Loam Series" Silt clay loam with pockets of limestone

Tasting Notes
Indulge in the brighter style of California Chardonnay and taste this blind to take you to Chablis. Pure Chardonnay with no new oak and a natural fermentation. Minerality, crushed oyster shells, loquat, and citrus chutney are just a few things that roll through the glass. The acidity grips the roof of the mouth for a long long finish.

Mike's Notes
A true treasured wine of Cole Ranch. We grafted the Chardonnay at Cole Ranch in 2020 and was producing less than 50 cases a year until this year. This wine is a true gem of Cole Ranch, and for good reason. The 458 Chardonnay clone is known for its quality, high acidity, low yields and small-loose clusters, which minimizes the risk of botrytis. The ranch's distinctively unique profile of high acidity combined with the 458 clone is reflected in the wine, resulting in a Chablis-like Chardonnay that celebrates the unique terroir of Cole Ranch. Before the grapes are delivered to the press we foot tread the whole clusters to crush each berry for more skin contact and acidity. We feel that this keeps the wine bright and textural. The juice settles overnight and fermented in neutral French oak. 30% through fermentation the wine is racked and returned to give it some oxygen and homogenize the native yeast. Post fermentation the barrels are kept topped with only 10ppm of Sulfur added until bottling. No lees stirring was done to this lot and the wine finished Malo naturally. 

Cole Ranch
Our vineyard, Cole Ranch, is the smallest Appellation in the United States at 180 acres and 44 acres producing fruit. It sits inside of a terrarium-like microclimate and is tightly surrounded by multiple mountain ranges and hills with no other vineyards close by. Cooler and wetter than surrounding wine producing areas, its high elevation, drastic temperature swings and overall cooler climate leads to a longer growing season which preserves the acidity that is unique to Cole Ranch fruit. Cole Ranch hosts a terroir known for wines expressing vitality, earthiness, and electricity. When Mike acquired this vineyard in 2019, he began the stewardship of a vineyard that expresses its true self with grapes that thrive in its unique conditions. With steep terrain and a unique microclimate, Cole Ranch is particularly suited to growing Alpine grape varieties to create unique, thought provoking wines lead by terroir and texture.

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