Winemaker Notes
La Estancia Vineyard in the historic Santa Lucia Highlands was planted in 1973 by James Harkins, the same year his granddaughter and current vineyard manager, Erin Phillips, was born. Starting with Chualar loam- the alluvial and porous soil, rich with granite and sandstone, provide a nourishing environment for grape vines and are enriched with many of Rudolph Steiner's farming principles to enliven the soil and bring the grapes to life! Erin brings a fresh approach to farming this 43-year-old vineyard adding only the lightest touches to maintain balance in the essential ingredients to growing tasty grapes: fresh soil, air, water. Most importantly, she adds loads of love! In the cellar we used only native yeast fermentation. The Chardonnay was fermented in 1-2 year Austrian Oak barrels to allow the wine to breath and gain texture, and aged in said barrels for 16 months. SO2 was only used once about a month prior to bottling to help the wine retain a sense of freshness and acidity. The wine did go through partial malolactic fermentation.
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.
The largest and perhaps most varied of California’s wine-growing regions, the Central Coast produces a good majority of the state's wine. This vast California wine district stretches from San Francisco all the way to Santa Barbara along the coast, and reaches inland nearly all the way to the Central Valley.
Encompassing an extremely diverse array of climates, soil types and wine styles, it contains many smaller sub-AVAs, including San Francisco Bay, Monterey, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Maria Valley.
While the Central Coast California wine region could probably support almost any major grape varietiy, it is famous for a few Central Coast reds and whites. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel are among the major ones. The Central Coast is home to many of the state's small, artisanal wineries crafting unique, high-quality wines, as well as larger producers also making exceptional wines.