Mayacamas Vineyards Chardonnay 2021

Mayacamas Vineyards Chardonnay is a taut, mountain-grown Napa Chardonnay made without malolactic conversion.

Cabernet made the estate's name, but Chardonnay is what first brought the acclaim. The original Wente-clone vines went in during 1975, and when the Schottenstein family bought the property in 2013 the replanting kept that clone and added a few blocks of Dijon. The Chardonnay is scattered across a 475-acre property of which only 50 acres are vines, sitting between 550 and 650 metres on volcanic ash, gravelly loam and cobbled clay. Blocks are picked separately in the cool of early morning over several passes, hand-sorted, then pressed 95 per cent as whole clusters at very low pressure. Cold-settled juice ferments long and cool in old barrels, malolactic is blocked as it has been since the 1970s, and the wine rests a year unstirred.

The result is racy and broad at once: white peach, lemon oil, crushed stone and a saline, almost bitter finish with no buttery softness anywhere. Serve at 12 degrees with roast chicken, scallops or a wedge of comte, and treat it as a wine that will age.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.