Our 2004 Chardonnay contains the inaugural release of fruit from our new Freestone vineyard in Sonoma County, where in 1999 we purchased and developed 20 acres of Chardonnay.
The blending of Freestone and Carneros grapes has yielded a beautifully balanced, medium-bodied wine with aromas of lemon cream, toasty brioche and hazelnut, followed by a long,
crisp finish.

2004 Vintage Notes:
High quality and significantly reduced crop yields characterized the 2004 harvest, which was in turn influenced by the previous year’s growing season.

In every vintage, the prior year’s weather pattern influences the development and health of the bud responsible for the next year’s cane and grape cluster. In 2003, unseasonably cool weather conditions prevailed from March to the beginning of June, with 13 inches of rain falling from March through May.

As weather improved during the summer and into the harvest, 2003 produced a ripe, healthy crop. But the cool, wet spring adversely affected the development of the buds that would remain on the vine after pruning for the 2004 season. As budbreak commenced in 2004, we saw fewer berries per cluster and a commensurate reduction in cluster weight, as well as 80-plus degree temperatures for two weeks in March which resulted in one of the earliest budbreaks vintners could remember.

This precocious trend carried forward throughout the moderate, pleasant growing season with only a few heat spikes at scattered intervals throughout the summer. Grapes completed veraison early, and ripening produced well-developed sugars by the end of August. However, on August 27th a three-week heat spell began, with many days measuring over 100 degrees. Some of the ripening fruit became dehydrated and had to be removed from the vines prior to harvesting. Depending on location, crop yields were reduced 10 – 40%. Our yields ranged from 2.5 to less than 1 ton per acre with an average of less than 2 tons per acre for all of our fruit harvested in 2004.

Our job in crafting the 2004 wines was to moderate over-ripe characteristics, but from the very beginning the aromas and flavors drifting out of the fermenters signaled outstanding quality, with exceptional fragrance, color and extract. The 2004 whites in particular are concentrated, aromatic and beautifully balanced. We are reminded of the 2002 vintage, which produced wines of forward, concentrated flavors with incredible fragrance, depth and power.