2019 Frog's Leap 'Shale and Stone' Chardonnay Napa Valley

Winemaker Notes: The combination of a very successful vintage, the deep fractured soils of the Truchard vineyard, a short barrel fermentation followed by extended sur lie aging has once again produced a remarkable Chardonnay in the unique Frog’s Leap style. Subtle but distinct white peach combined with lightly toasted hazelnuts define the aromas. But it really is the crisp, perfectly balanced, and bone-dry flavors that make the wine. The only problem with serving it with a perfectlybaked quiche Lorraine is that too much of the bottle is empty by the time the quiche comes out of the oven! JWThe 2019 Chardonnay was harvested in eight separate picks between September 17th and October 1st, as different sections of the vineyard reached full ripeness. All lots were added to the press whole cluster, with the first five lots seeing a couple hours of skin contact in the press. After cold settling, the juice was allowed to start fermenting with native yeast, then immediately racked to brand-new French oak barrels, where they spent their most active phase of fermentation, typically 4-6 days. As each lot began to slow down, all wine was racked to a single stainless steel lined concrete tank, where primary fermentation finished over the next several weeks. No lees stirring occurred, and no sulfur was added to the tank until the following summer, with the wine finishing a natural malolactic fermentation over the winter. RW