Vineyard: 100% Chardonnay from Witness Tree Vineyard, hand-picked 9/26/22. I lease a 1.52 acre block of with 4 clones which are mixed among the steep, east-facing rows: 45% clone 87, 45% Dijon 76, 5% Dijon 96 and 5% clone 548. The farming is transitioning towards organic and the vines are non-irrigated. Rocky Nekia and Gelderman soils over volcanic basalt. Planted in 2019 on rootstock. Vines spaced 3.5x6, facing due east between 700’-750’.

Vintage: 2022 in a word: miraculous. After a chilly start, the valley experienced a continuous drenching from an atmospheric river throughout the first half of the year. As buds broke in early April, an unseasonable frost between 4/11 and 4/15 caused damage to unfurling buds and tender shoots. Inclement weather persisted through into June, further challenging an already delayed flowering. However, a turn for the better occurred in July and August; the long, warm, dry days became cool nights in both September and October. Harvest commenced in Dundee Hills the morning of 9/23 and concluded in Eola-Amity on 10/15. Yields were better than expected and the quality is especially high from the coolest sites where the impact of the frost was minimal. The vintage has a crystalline, tensile character with wines showcasing distinctiveness of site. These youthful wines are vibrant and chiseled, densely structured with high acidity and extract. 

Vinification: Hand-picked 9/26/22 and crushed into the press, half of the must was kept green with 60ppm SO2 within 2 hours, while the other half browned in cold steel for 48 hours before 60ppm SO2 addition. The hard press was not sulfured. Ambient yeast fermentation started in warming steel tanks without pied de cuve, then the lots were racked with fine lees to 34% new, 33% second fill and 33% third fill 265L Damy barrels. The new barrels were chaptalized 0.5%. Primary completed in 10-20 days, malolactic finished between July and August 2023. Very minimal lees stirring. After one year in oak, a blend of 28% new and 72% second fill 265L barrels was made in steel. After six months in stainless steel, the 2022 Witness Tree Vineyard Chardonnay will be bottled 3/19/24 under 54mm DIAM 10. Unfined/unfiltered.

Chemistry: 6.4g/L TA | 3.30 pH | 12.80% abv | <.50g/L RS | .62g/L VA | <.10 g/L Malic | ~45ppm fSO2