Buehler Russian River Chardonnay 1997

The early budbreak of the 1997 growing season foreshadowed the the early arrival of the harvest. We began harvesting our Russian River Chardonnay on September 11, a full two to three weeks early than normal. Fortunately, the length of the growing season was not comprimised and the grapes received sufficient hang time to develop mature flavors.

The 1997 Russian River Chardonnay spotlights the elusive citrus blossom quality of chardonnay fruit that only remains intact to the bottle by gentle handling techniques at the winery. The floral chardonnay notes are accented by toasty sur-lie barrel qualities. The mouthful is creamy from start to finish; the 75% ML tempers the natural acidity of the Russian River fruit and delivers a velvet textured package backed by enough acidity to ensure a long clean finish.