Fall Release Lorenzo Vineyard Chardonnay
2017

Winemaker’s Notes

With only six barrels each year, our Lorenzo Vineyard bottling will always be our most limited-production wine. It comes from a tiny superior section of this venerable old vineyard in the heart of the Russian River Valley, an elevated sandy, silty corner in a vineyard otherwise dominated by heavier clay and loam soils. The vines were planted in 1974 and have been expertly tended by the Bazzano family over the decades. Highly revered locally, Lorenzo is one of the great old vine Sonoma Chardonnay sites.

The wine style here is focused, direct and complex, showing less overt fruit richness than, say, Ritchie Chloe but more drive and savory wet stone elements. That’s what makes the wine so fascinating and ultimately delicious. Its quality is built not on power but subtle intensity and classical elegance. It’s truly one of a kind.

The wine shows aromas of sweet lime, nectarine and cantaloupe. Beeswax, thyme and anise add dimension. It’s lively, fresh and structured in the mouth with fine lines and great thrust to the flavors. A deep texture develops as the wine opens. The finish features white pepper and preserved lemon notes, chiseled and precise. It’s quite evident that the wine’s intensity is borne out of the vines themselves, their deep extract, and not via winemaking technique.

Lorenzo has a strong, singular voice in our line-up of world-class vineyard-driven expressions, and the 2017 vintage is a perfect reflection of this distinctive site.

Andy Smith