Claire Hill Wines Chardonnay Lolonis Vineyard 2021 750ml

USA : CALIFORNIA : REDWOOD VALLEY

CERTIFIED ORGANIC : Chardonnay

MED-BODIED, LEMON VERBENA, WHITE PEACH, ALMOND, NEUTRAL OAK

Lolonis Vineyard sits in the inland reaches of Mendocino County, its Chardonnay vines planted in the winter of 1946–47 with a WWII soldier’s Army paycheck — the second oldest Chardonnay planting in California, farmed organically without interruption since day one and now certified by CCOF. In 2021, extreme drought reduced yields to one-third of normal, small berry clusters packing the fruit with more concentration than any ordinary vintage could manage.

Claire Hill — who worked with Éric Texier in the Rhône Valley and at Rhys Vineyards before launching her own winery in 2016 — took the drought-stressed fruit and pressed it whole-cluster, then left it overnight to settle before transferring to used French oak for native fermentation. Fifteen months on fine lees. Minimal sulfur. The result is a Chardonnay that shows richness with restraint: nothing added that the vineyard didn’t already provide.

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