AROMA: lemon drops, juniper, pulverized rock
FLAVOR: pomelo, nectarine pit, salted almond
FOOD PAIRINGS: clams casino, pork schnitzel, chicken pot pie
VINIFICATION: 3.4 tons hand-harvested on Oct 7th & 9th: Chardonnay clones 4 + 72 (Wente) cofermented on native yeasts in neutral barriques & 600L puncheons. The wine completed a spontaneous malolactic fermentation, and was aged in barrel for 10-months. Racked to steel for an additional 6-months of anaerobic aging. Bottled unfined/unfiltered.
SITE: This elusive vineyard is pitched along a series of ridge lines at 2500' in the bucolic Anderson Valley, 20 miles from the coast. Its tough mountainous soils range from grey shale to decomposed sandstone with veins of quartz crystal. The clonal material differs by block—this wine is a blend of clone 72, planted in 2011, and clone 4, planted in 2006. This eastern edge of the valley is subject to extreme temperature swings, late flowering, and naturally low yields.
NOTES: We've seen some pretty extreme vintages up here at Skycrest. Vintages 2020 and 2021 were record-drought years with very small if concentrated crops. Vintage 2022 was another drought year punctuated by a nasty heat dome event during harvest. We were surprised by how much we liked all three of those vintages. This mountain fruit is just built different. Literally and figuratively has thicker skins. The ocean born wind always cools it down up at this elevation (2500'), so acid retention is not really an issue. But all three of those vintages were put into perspective once we tasted the 2023. Vintage 2023 was a large crop with perfect growing conditions throughout the summer...and perhaps more importantly, into the Fall. We found ourselves picking ultra-mature grapes at low sugars and with high acidity. The term that comes up for us again and again while tasting these magic ‘23s is "ripe acidity." The kind of acidity you achieve only in cold years with longer hang times. It goes without saying this is our favorite-ever bottling of Skycrest, and it may just be the white wine of the vintage for us. Pure white fruited mineral energy in the glass.
