2004 Benziger Ricci Chardonnay, Carneros (750ml) (All Products) -- Benziger & Imagery Online Store Shopping Cart -- (750ml) Carneros Chardonnay, Ricci Benziger 2004

<H1>2004 Benziger Ricci Chardonnay, Carneros (750ml) -- Benziger & Imagery Online Store Shopping Cart</H1> $29.00 -- This wine displays the intensity, complexity, and length Carneros Chardonnay--at its best--is known for. It is supple and full-bodied, yet crisp and very long on the palate. It tastes of banana, roasted nut, toasted oak, peach, lemon, and pineapple. <IMG SRC="https://store.nexternal.com/benziger/images/BZ-04-RicciChardLABEL.JPG" ALIGN=right ALT="2004 Benziger Ricci Chardonnay, Carneros (750ml)" NAME="2004 Benziger Ricci Chardonnay, Carneros (750ml)" BORDER=0 HSPACE=10> VINTAGE 2004 RELEASE DATE April 2006 CASE PRODUCTION 639 AVAILABILITY Winery only APPELLATION Los Carneros VINEYARD: The Ricci family vineyard enjoys a prime location in the southern part of Carneros, close to the San Pablo Bay. The family has extensive experience farming this region that has evolved from graze and orchard land to one of the premier Chardonnay appellations in the world. Carneros’ maritime-influenced climate, intensified by the vineyard’s proximity to the bay -- contributes to a longer time on the vine for the grapes, referred to as “hang-time”. The extended hang-time—which the Carneros region is known for—produces ripe, fully matured and intense flavors in the final wine. VINIFICATION: The whole cluster grapes were quickly pressed to tank to settle, then cold barrel fermented to retain the flavors of Ricci Vineyard in the wine. The wine was aged in French oak for ten months to impart roundness and complexity. After minimal fining the wine was bottled in August 2005. Alcohol: 14.5%, Total Acidity: .60, pH: 3.43, Residual Sugar: .07%. VINTAGE: The amount of rainfall, though early, was normal. Dry weather reigned from March, the warmest March on record, to October. The warm weather jump-started the growing season, making farmers nervous (more much time for things to go badly). Things did cool down for spring extending bloom. Periods of long bloom affect uniformity in reds causing a potential of uneven ripening within an individual grape cluster. In our vineyards, we ‘green drop’ to balance the crop and eliminate late ripening fruit at the end of verasion. Summer was moderate without any heat waves; but it was humid raising concerns of mildew. By the end of July it was evident that an early harvest was upon us. High temperatures are not unusual in late summer and early fall but humidity under 20% is very unusual. In fact the average low humidity over the previous five years didn’t go below 30%. Extended periods of hot, dry weather are difficult for a grapevine to endure. With almost two weeks of 10 - 20% humidity in late August and September, mildew was now the least of concerns! Grape sugar was soaring before flavors had matured; our growers did a great job sustaining vineyards until flavors developed. By the end of September we were evaluating an outstanding vintage. 2004 is a vintage of ripe and well-developed flavors with the best overall quality in years. <LI>SKU: 590404 <A HREF="http://www.nexternal.com/benziger" TITLE="Benziger & Imagery Online Store Products">Benziger & Imagery Online Store Products</A> <A HREF="http://www.benziger.com">Benziger & Imagery Online Store</A> Benziger & Imagery Online Store Online Store powered by Nexternal <A HREF="http://www.nexternal.com" TITLE="shopping cart software">shopping cart software</A>

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