Chardonnay "PM Staiger" Santa Cruz Mountain 2019

Tasting note

Chardonnay that you would hardly expect from California. The new, different style of California. Harvested early, from a cool location in the Santa Cruz Mountains, high above the Pacific, southwest of San Francisco. The stylistic antithesis to the "typical Californian Chardonnay".
"P-M Staiger" is a historic vineyard by Californian standards. It was planted true to root in 1973 with the legendary Wente clone. True-root plantings are also the exception in California. The clone of the once famous Wente winery, which had its own vineyard at the time, is one of the best known in the country. It stands for intense yellow-fruity aromas in Chardonnay. The organically certified vineyard is located on a steep south-western slope at an altitude of just under 400 meters. Plenty of sunlight with harsh UV radiation. The cold Pacific air moderates the temperature differences between day and night. And the barren soils of sandstone and slate, combined with this microclimate, encourage the grapes to ripen to full flavor, with low sugar and high acidity.

A Chardonnay that is grown rather than made. The cool location and the small-berried, ungrafted plant material result in low yields, which are noticeable in the dense body in the mouth. Please decant the wine long enough. It then opens up, showing itself to be racy, fresh and mouth-wateringly animating on the palate. It then has a cool aroma of fresh orange peel, reminiscent of chamomile, jasmine blossom and spicy honey, revealing the aromatic expressiveness of the plant material that has shaped the perception of Californian Chardonnays for decades. Here it is different, impressing with a strikingly salty minerality and racy freshness, reminiscent of lime as well as pineapple and peach. There is a hint of the wooden barrel in the bouquet, which is sensitively integrated into the harmonious whole. Pure Chardonnay pleasure as an unadulterated reflection of an exciting origin.