Appellation: Central Coast
Varietal: 100% Chardonnay
Clones: Wente, 4, 95, 96
Oak treatment: None
Alcohol: 13.5%
Cases made: 12,000
Release date: March 2011
Retail price: $18. 
Buy
$18.Buy
90 points, Wine Enthusiast
So rich in flavor, you won't miss the absence of oak. The fruit carries the wine all by itself, offering waves of pineapples, limes, peaches, pears, apricots and
vanilla bean. Zesty Central Coast acidity makes the mouthfeel crisp and brilliant.
S.H. 89 points, Robert Parker
The 2010 Stainless Chardonnay exhibits fresh, lively notes of lemon butter and pineapple followed by a richly fruity, medium-bodied, clean, naked Chardonnay.
Best of Class, 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
THE VINEYARD
A portion of this wine comes from our estate, providing density and minerality.
Additional fruit was sourced from several sustainably farmed vineyards on the Central Coast. We used
Monterey County fruit from a river terrace above the Salinas River with east-facing exposure to produce
lush, tropical flavors. From rocky ridges just south of our estate we sourced some old vine Wente fruit,
lending intense citrus and mineral notes. One vineyard on the south bank of the Santa Maria River lent
Dijon Clones for ripe fruit characters, and another high in a canyon above Los Alamos added richness to
the palate.
VINTAGE
2010 will go down as one of the coolest years in Californian history. A very chilly spring
with some frosty days delayed budbreak 10-14 days behind normal. Due to cooler La Niña ocean
temperatures, the summer was much cooler than average, but an extended heat wave in the last week of
September gave us record-breaking heat. Temperatures exceeded 110°F for four days, allowing ripening to
catch up a bit.
WINEMAKING
The grapes were pressed as whole-clusters before cold settling to remove most of
the solids before fermentaion in stainless steel tanks took place. Special cultured yeasts and very low
temperatures were used to maximize the clean, bright tropical notes and dense mid-palate in this wine.
Then, the wine was racked off the lees, stabilized and bottled with no malolactic fermentaion taking place.
CLONAL SELECTION
The core of this wine remains Clone 4, known for its opulent tropical
character. Old vine Wente provides classic citrus expression while Dijon Clones 95 and 96 from
Chamisal's estate vineyard lend notes of ripe citrus and spice.
TASTING NOTES
Exploding with fresh, crisp fruit, the nose combines tropical pineapple, mango
and banana with the citrus notes of lemon, lime and grapefruit--a testament to the diversity of vineyard
sources. The palate bursts with a medley of fruit, driven by the crisp Fuji apple character and underlying
minerality of the estate grapes. Fresh and vivacious, this wine exhibits a dense mid-palate, proving that
with the right grapes and winemaking, Chardonnay does not need oak or malolactic fermentation to
shine.
