2012 SBC Chardonnay Y Block

A Modern Stone Age Winer y
2012 Y BLOCK CHARDONNAY
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY
NOTES
This is classic cool climate Santa Barbara
Chardonnay, fresh and crisp but with underlying richness and
structure. It has aromas of pears, apples and a bit of citrus along
with hints of crème brulée from the oak. It reminds me very
much of the 2005 and 2008 vintages…a good candidate for the
cellar!
VINEYARDS This wine comes primarily from the Y Block at
Bien Nacido Vineyard, a 15 acre Block planted exclusively for
Qupé in 2005 on sandy, gravelly river bench soils directly behind
the winery. 2012 was an amazing vintage; very high quality with
above normal yields. The vintage started off on the cool side, but
then in August it warmed up without ever getting too hot…ideal
conditions for flavor development and retaining acidity.
WINEMAKING As with all of our Y Block Chardonnays,
traditional winemaking techniques were employed – whole cluster
pressed; chilled overnight in a tank; racked directly to barrel the
next day with most of the lees; complete barrel fermentation, and
complete malolactic fermentation in the barrel. Prior to bottling,
the wine was aged on the lees for 9 months using Francois Freres
Burgundy barrels, about 20-25% new. We started harvesting on
September 10th at 21.8° brix, and finished on October 18th at
25.0°. There were nine different picks altogether and the average
was around 23.3° with 3.30 pH and 7.6 acidity.
ALCOHOL: 13.5%
BOB LINDQUIST, WINEMAKER
89 Points, Wine Enthusiast
Qupé.com