Bethel Heights Estate Chardonnay 375ml 2021

“Features creamy lime panna cotta, green pear and smoky flint tones on the nose at this youthful stage. Light-bodied and silky, the palate is tight and focused yet concentrated, and its long, ethereal finish suggests there's more to come.” -  94+ PTS, WINE ADVOCATE

“For less than $40, you'll struggle to find a better American Chardonnay. This wine shows classic Eola-Amity complexity, marrying spice, fruit and structure.” - 94 PTS, DECANTER 

WINERY NOTES:

OVERVIEW: “Chardonnay has been the preeminent white wine at Bethel Heights since the first vines were planted here in 1977. Today we have five different blocks of Chardonnay planted on various benches and slopes around our Estate vineyards.”

WINEMAKER NOTES:  “The 2021 vintage gave us a bit of everything, from explosive heat events in the Summer to a quick transition to cool, dry Fall weather arriving at the end of September. We typically pick Chardonnay in a fairly compressed window, but in 2021 nearly two weeks separated our early picks from the last, and with the added hang time, we had a very broad color palette to choose from at the blending table. The result is a wine brimming with citrus and tree fruits while maintaining freshness and vibrancy throughout the palate.”

VINIFICATION: “The grapes were whole cluster pressed at low pressure for four hours then settled at 45℉ for three days.  The juice was then racked to 228 L barrels and fermented for 35-40 days with lees stirring from mid fermentation to near dryness.   The new wine went through full malolactic fermentation and was aged on the lees undisturbed for 12 months, then was racked from barrel with the fermentation lees to a stainless steel tank for an additional 4 months prior to bottling.”