Longevity Wines Chardonnay 2012
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Winemaker/Founder Phil Long of Longevity Wines began his journey making wine in his garage with his wife Debra. Today, with almost two decades of winemaking experience and a list of awards too long to print, Winemaker Phil Sr. and Assistant Winemaker Phil Jr. continue the journey with the constant of always improving in place. “In the business of winemaking, the minute you think you know it all, it’s time to get out,” says Phil Sr. who also serves as president of the Association of African American Vintners.
Phil and Debra started an online wine club as a business in 2003. Utilizing their licenses for that business, began making wine in the Livermore Valley in 2006 under the Longevity label, using other wineries’ facilities. It was only a matter of time before production was moved to Longevity’s own facility in Livermore. Yearly production gradually ramped from 500 cases per year to the current production of 3,000. At Longevity’s facility in Livermore, the wines are produced in small lots to maintain a hands-on approach to quality control. “We handle everything from bin to bottle,” says Phil Jr.
“The Longevity Phil-osophy (pun intended) is to focus on the experience of enjoying quality wine: the food you had with it, the place you enjoyed it and the friends you shared the wine with. It’s those pairings that makes great memories,” says Phil Sr. “Everyone who visits the tasting room is treated like family, and they always bring back friends to share the experience.” Father and son enjoy the challenge that making multiple varietals brings and approach each one with the same dedication.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
A warm sub-appellation of the greater San Francisco Bay AVA (American Viticultural Area), Livermore Valley mainly hides behind the shielding effects of the bay’s eastern hills. However, late afternoon winds cool down summer nights as daytime heat rises from the Central Valley in the east, pulling the cold, foggy, bay air inland. This cooler evening air permeates the Livermore Valley's foothills, making this an ideal environment for the development of phenolic ripeness and concentration in its wine grapes.
The Livermore Valley is one of California's oldest wine regions and has played a crucial role in shaping California's wine industry. Spanish missionaries planted the first wine grapes in the Livermore Valley in the 1760s. Then in the mid 1800s, a man named Robert Livermore planted the area’s first commercial vineyards. Winemaker pioneer C. H. Wente arrived a few years later; today the Wente Chardonnay clone is the source of a majority of California Chardonnay. Furthermore, James Concannon and the Wetmore brothers recognized the virtues of the area’s Bordeaux-like gravel soils and dedicated themselves to making high quality wine from Bordeaux varieties. Today the area is also known for high quality Petite Sirah.