2009 michael faraday 3 liter
matthiasson family vineyards
- Varietal chardonnay
- Appellation sonoma
This is one of our proudest creations. I cannot avoid the phrase, though
almost every word is wrong. We hardly created this wine-- it is one of
the wines in which we have had the least influence and have followed the
most conventional paths. The fruit is from the vineyard planted and
farmed by our dear friend and colleague Steve Matthiasson, whom we are
obliged to mention at least once each day during harvest-- because he is
such a fountain of inquiry and explanation. The vineyard is a rockpile
off Carriger Lane in what seems to be the western flats of Sonoma
Valley, but, in truth, it is a high mountain, hillside vineyard,
transplanted whole to a flat table close to sea level. It is a
geographical illusion. We whole cluster pressed the fruit, fermented the
juice in 2 year-old oak barrels, and left the wine alone, without
topping, racking, or sulfur until the spring of its second year.
Since it finished fermenting in the fall of 2009, it has been at once the most noble and showy wine in the winery; the sample sure to convert a skeptical guest or drive wild an already enthusiastic one. To me, the parallels are much more to Chablis than to Meursault or Montrachet, though you could never call the wine steely. It is disciplined itself and inspires not just respect but discipline in others, at the same time that it demands celebration and fraternity. 3 rather large burgundy bottles created
Since it finished fermenting in the fall of 2009, it has been at once the most noble and showy wine in the winery; the sample sure to convert a skeptical guest or drive wild an already enthusiastic one. To me, the parallels are much more to Chablis than to Meursault or Montrachet, though you could never call the wine steely. It is disciplined itself and inspires not just respect but discipline in others, at the same time that it demands celebration and fraternity. 3 rather large burgundy bottles created