WINEMAKING DATA:
Aging regime: Twelve months in French oak barrels (50% new, 50% one- to two-years-old) before bottling in March, 2007.

COOPERS: Francois Frères, Remond, Chassin, Damy and Rousseau.

We are pleased to release our inaugural Chardonay from Freestone Vineyards. Despite vintage challenges along the Sonoma Coast, the yield from these young vines was enough for experimentation and we were able to craft a delicious wine, providing a preview of what is to come from this exciting new vineyard.

The wine offers a rich mix of flavors including lemon zest, fig, and spices characteristic of the region. The mineral notes provide a nice, rounded structure and an intensity that persists on the palate.

We suggest decanting the wine prior to serving.

THE GROWING SEASON
The 2005 vintage in Sonoma County can be characterized generally as high yield and late ripening with good sugar and acid balance. The rugged coastal climate in Freestone, however, provided some challenges such as poor berry set in some blocks, spring frost damage and botrytis, all of which yielded a smaller than expected crop in some vineyards.

With a lot of attention and application of our biodynamic sprays and teas, the vines focused all of their energies on the smaller crop and provided grapes with concentrated and expressive regional flavors.