1999
RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY CHARDONNAY

	Harvest Date:		10/7/99
	Brix:		23.7 degrees
	pH:		3.20
	TA:		0.87 g/100mL

Tasting Notes: I must admit to being a little unfair to this wine in its early days. Prior to 1999 I had a 1/2-acre block of fruit in the Teviot Vineyard high in the hills of Knight’s Valley. This vineyard is across the road from Peter Michael and the fruit made some spectacular wines (low 90’s in Spectator, 3 puffs in Connoisseurs’, etc). I lost that vineyard after the harvest of 1998 and went naturally and with confidence to the Russian River Valley but indeed this vineyard was untested. Ergo, I labeled the wine with the Russian River Valley appellation rather than as a Buena Tierra Single Vineyard. (Yeah, you are reading that right, the same vineyard site of E Block, good dirt or what?!). This wine is everything I want a chardonnay to be. The fruit is rich, lush, and ripe. The middle has weight and depth, but rather than a short or heavy finish the wine concludes with an elegance and cleanliness that is refreshing and yet totally satisfying. The balance is impeccable. This is an example of a great site, great farming, a very fine vintage and the best of luck. I could have easily enjoyed going into the market with several times as much of this gem.

	Alcohol:		14.1% by volume
	TA:		0.64 g/100mL
	pH:		3.28
	Production:		190 cases of 12

Aging Notes: A generation if you can keep your hands off of it! Hide this in the very back of the cellar. Aromas and flavors are just beginning the shift from bright high tone fruit to that lovely creaminess and nuttiness that comes with a little time in the bottle. But the finish remains tangy and crisp. I am really looking forward to tasting this wine over the next several years (tasted on Labor Day, 9/2/02).

(tasted on Labor Day, 9/2/02)

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