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Spring Release Highland Divide Chardonnay
2018

Winemaker’s Notes

Our 2018 Highland Divide Chardonnay showcases the craft of blending to achieve a wine with seamless complexity and balance. This coastal Russian River Chardonnay offers tremendous flavor density and lingering weight. 

Morelli Lane Vineyard gives the wine concentration, weight and depth. Its mature low-yielding vines are planted close to the Pacific at high elevation on clay/loam soils, and they have an inherent power that is hard to replicate elsewhere, a truly unique vineyard. This richness is underpinned by the savory, structural feel of Jentoft, a vineyard planted on a steep south-facing hillside in much leaner, highly eroded upland soils. Here, the expression is pulsating, focused and linear. These vineyards were meant for each other! 

Inviting aromatics draw you in: crisp apple and pear, fresh mint and lemon balm, rich brioche and oatmeal. The palate is immediately textured and broad with obvious fruit richness offset by deep savory notes of lanolin, sweet sage and minerals. There’s a drive and focus to the wine with a fine interplay between texture and structure. Flavors of lemon oil and lime zest linger on the finish with honeyed undertones and a savory cut. 

Drink on release or age up to five years.

Andy Smith


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Highland Divide Chardonnay  - DuMOL

Vineyard

58% Dutton Ranch Morelli Lane Vineyard

42% Dutton Ranch Jentoft Vineyard

Harvest Date

september 12th & 18th

Appellation

Russian River Valley

Clones

mt eden & hyde old wente

Age of Vines at Harvest

22 years

Barrel Aging

barrel fermented & aged 11 months in 35% new french oak then 3 months settling in tank; complete malolactic fermentation.

Production

1210 cases of 750mL
24 cases of 1.5L
24 bottles of 3L

Press

93 Wine Advocate
93 Vinous Media, May 2021