Tessier Skin-Contact Chardonnay, Arroyo Seco 2021 (750 ml)

An old river bed with rocky soils and large river stones. All about ocean breezes from the Monterey Bay that cool the valley. Certified organic fruit, picked on 09/24/2021 at 19 brix. Destemmed, 6 days on the skins, pressed to stainless steel tank for fermentation and aged on the lees for 4 months. Golden yellow color with orange-ish hue. Aromas of honeycomb, lanolin, chamomile flowers, butterscotch and golden apple on the nose. Pear and mandarin orange on the finish.

Grape: Chardonnay

Vineyard: Zabala 

Location: Arroyo Seco 

Alcohol: 12.2%

Total Production: 130 cases

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Kristie Tacey, winemaker and founder of Tessier Winery, is a scientist turned winemaker. A former published research scientist who studied protein pathways, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area from her native Michigan to pursue a career in biotechnology, which included working on the Human Genome Project. Kristie eventually came to realize that winemaking was her true calling and after working as operations manager and assistant winemaker at an award-winning East Bay winery, she started Tessier in 2009.

Tessier is the result of Kristie’s passion for the art and science of winemaking. She began handcrafting small lots of Pinot Noir and has added Grenache, Pinot Gris, Cabernet Franc, Gamay Noir, Riesling, Syrah and Mourvedre. Kristie’s appreciation of French wines — especially those from Burgundy and the Loire and Rhone valleys — has shaped her winemaking choices. 

With a background in microbiology, Kristie is fascinated by the cycle of life; each vintage of Tessier wines captures and reflects one year in the lives of the vineyards she works with. She sources high-quality fruit from a strong network of farmers in the Anderson Valley, Santa Cruz Mountains, Arroyo Seco, and El Dorado foothills. She then uses minimal-interventionist winemaking techniques to showcase the unique characteristics of the grapes and the vineyards. For Kristie, sustainability is a priority — not only with the vineyards’ farming practices, but also by having long-term relationships with her growers and customers. These small production wines, an annual production of 1400 cases, get unparalleled attention.