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| Balleto |
Russian River Valley |
Sonoma |
white flower, limeleaf, rock dust
peached pear, orange, mineral
herb roasted chicken, saffron risotto, grilled sardines
VINIFICATION
10 tons hand picked on sept 23rd. intensive hand-sorting
performed. whole cluster pressed. cold fermented in stainless
steel tanks (no oak) using a wild yeast. naturally occurring
malolactic fermentation. 5-month fine lees contact.
SITE
from a selection of cooler russian river valley sites situated at
8-10 miles from the coast. chardonnay clones 96 &17 planted
at elevations ranging from 40-100 feet in soft sandy soil
known locally as "goldridge". strident farming methods
produce evening ripening. proximity to the cold pacific ocean
necessitates a extended growing season which heightens
flavor intensity.
in 2010 we moved our appellation wine from carneros---which
conceptually, we seemed to always have to talk people into-to
the russian river valley, which everyone knows plays home to
the finest chardonnay vineyards in california. note: we should
point out that we still believe in carneros chardonnay and will
continue to buy fruit there for our sonoma county bottling. that
all said, when kevin and i stood in this vineyard at the western
edge of the russian river valley appellation, we could feel a
cold wind coming off the sea and the smell of salt was in the
air. the vines stood pitched on an eastern facing slope in
prized coastal soil known as "goldridge." and we just had the
kind of "feeling" we've had before when surveying other grand
sites like demuth, hanzell, and heintz. we just knew we could
make great wine here. the summer of 2010 was the "coldest
in 50-years" in california. that meant marquis vintages for the
warmer sites (like hanzell and michaud), and nail biting for the
marginal sites on the coast. we barely got this fruit ripe and
picked it late september---just days before a major rain event.
the wine shows the character of the vintage with the kind of
laser beam acidity and palate staining minerality you'd more
likely find in premier cru chablis. and with a finishing alcohol at
a modest 12.3%, why hold back?
| kevin kelley |
650 |
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| now through 2018 |
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