Sparkling Blanc de Blancs

When we embarked on our initial vintage in 2010, we espoused this exploration solely to Chardonnay planted in the sandy upper blocks of our 3D vineyard. One ton of clone 4 (for bright precision) and one ton of clone 76 (for length and depth) are gently pressed together, with the majority of the juice collected from simply tumbling the grapes and letting gravity coerce the free run through the drain screen. The primary fermentation is carried out at an extremely cold temperature in neutral barrels with malolactic inhibited to preserve a fresh spine of acidity. The base wine is aged on non-disturbed yeast lees for ten months before being prepared for its second fermentation in bottle which transpires in July. One of the more influential elements of this wine’s upbringing is the extended time spent in contact with the yeast lees in bottle. During this period, referred to as en tirage, the wine remains nurtured and protected by the spent yeast. There is an incredible evolution throughout this tenure, where the yet to be finished product simultaneously gains soulful depth while still retaining freshness and life. The late disgorgement of the wine is akin to unearthing a time capsule that has been buried away for the better part of a decade. We carried out this labor intensive process at the culmination of eight years in our cellar on September 9th, 2021. On this day the spent yeast was extracted bottle by bottle followed by swiftly topping, corking and caging. Respectfully, Greg Brewer