2003 Chardonnay

2003 Chardonnay

Wine Notes

by Barnard Griffin

Vintage Notes

The 2003 Chardonnay shows a big, rich, buttery wine with firm acidity and great hints of the 70% barrel fermentation that went into making this wine. The finish is rich, balanced, and mouth-filling. This vintage is long on the palate and shows the great depth of the 2003 vintage.

Vineyards

The 2003 growing season was one of the hottest and ripest on record. A consistent warm spring and hot summer, followed by a long fall, was ideal. Sugars were high but the acids look very good throughout the Chardonnay fruit that I saw in the vineyards. The vineyard sources are as follows:

Conner Lee Vineyard Columbia Valley/Columbia Basin
Wahluke Slope Vineyard Columbia Valley/Wahluke Slope
Caroway Vineyard Columbia Valley/Columbia Basin
Crawford Vineyard Columbia Valley/Yakima River

Wine Making

70% barrel fermented using M2 and Pris de Mousse yeasts
Aged on the yeasts in a mix of Vosges, Nevers and older Alliers barrels