
PHILOSOPHY
Lynmar Estate celebrates the distinctive terroir of the various vineyards we farm creating wines that are elegant, complex, balanced, and age worthy. Acting as stewards of the land, the winemaking team takes great care to craft wines that truly represent the dynamic, cool-climate soils from the vineyards where the grapes are grown. A genuine mosaic of the land, the people, the food and the synergy of place at Lynmar Estate is revealed in each vintage. Quail Hill Vineyard Chardonnay is the definitive expression of Chardonnay from our 47-acre home estate.
2006 GROWING SEASON
The 2006 growing season was particularly challenging in the Russian River Valley. Higher humidity during the summer months resulted in greater mildew pressure across the appellation, exacerbated by weather during harvest that provided perfect growing conditions for botrytis, or "noble rot”. Luckily all our Chardonnay vineyards are favorably situated and the vineyard crews in each location did everything right this year. Numerous extra “passes” at all sites ensured the area around grape clusters had good air flow and that crop loads were balanced. At the winery, all incoming fruit was hand-sorted as needed. Primary characteristics of the wines from 2006, in general, will be lower than average alcohols and bright natural acidity. This is a vintage that will play very well to Lynmar’s balanced, elegant house style.
WINEMAKING
All fruit was hand-harvested at night or early morning and transported to the winery while still cool, then hand-sorted and gently whole-cluster pressed. Juice was only lightly settled before transfer to a combination of new and used 60-gallon French oak barrels. Primary fermentations with mostly native yeasts lasted 6 to 12 weeks, with subsequent malolactic fermentations (“ML”) lasting anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months. Lees were stirred weekly through ML, which contributed richness and body to the wine. This vintage saw 100% ML, yet it retains excellent acidity. Barrel coopers for this vintage were Latour, Mercurey, Francois Freres, Seguin-Moreau and Rousseau. After 14 months in barrel on original lees, the selected barrels were racked into stainless steel tanks for further settling before bottling. The primary lots for this blend came from our “New” block (15-year old Rued selection, also known as a Musqué clone.)
TASTING NOTES
Appearance is bright yellow-green gold and leads into a complex nose of toast, peaches & cream, bread, acacia, and hazelnuts. The aromas are fresh and compelling with noticeable intensity and focus. The palate is full bodied and rich yet elegant in mouthfeel. Just the right amount of “classic” reduction and toasty oak are wrapped around notes of apricots, white pepper, ripe lemons and orange blossom. The richness here is well balanced by good acidity and solid depth of fruit. There is a long, well structured finish that echoes the freshness of the nose and is quite appealing. This wine is approachable now but will keep and improve for at least 5 years more through 2013.
WINE INFORMATION
Varietal Composition:
100% Chardonnay, estate grown
& bottled
Winemaker:
Hugh Chappelle
Consulting Winemaker :
Paul Hobbs
Consulting Viticulturist:
Greg Adams
Alcohol: 14.3%
pH: 3.61
T.A.: 0.505 g/l00 ml
Cases Produced:
551 (12x750ml) cases
Aging: 14 mo. in 60 gal. French
barrels (40% new)
Bottling Date: December, 2007
Suggested Retail Price: $40
Other products in the category Wines:
2007 Jenkins Vineyard Pinot Noir -- Aromas truly leap from the glass and immediately captivate, with primary notes of cherry and raspberry, accented with both red and dark fruit elements. There is also is a deft touch of toasty oak which adds spice and complexity, but in no way competes wit
2006 Quail Hill Vineyard, Bliss Block Pinot Noir -- Our “Bliss Block” Pinot Noir is from a unique part of the estate and in one of the coolest pockets of the property. From the very beginning this vineyard block gave us wines of a highly distinctive and individualistic quality
2006 Quail Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir -- What we have in this wine is taut highly aromatic expression of our estate vineyard where elegance, balance, and structure are all seamlessly interwoven. The texture here is still youthfully firm but with a vibrant energy
Quail Hill Chardonnay Vertical -- 2004 - 2006 Quail Hill Vineyard Chardonnay
2004 Quail Hill Vineyard Chardonnay -- The flavors are complex and subtle, revealing bright key lime, verbena and Gravenstein apple notes, balanced by ginger, clove and a briny minerality.
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