2004 Chardonnay, Los Carneros
Winemaker Notes
Much of our Carneros Chardonnay was hand-picked at night and early morning to preserve bright fruit and natural acid. All of the fruit was whole cluster pressed before cold barrel fermentation. The wine was fermented and aged in American and French oak barrels for four to seven months. The traditional practice of batonnage was used to build body, texture and integrate flavors. The wine was racked, blended and bottled in the spring and summer of 2004. Alcohol 13.5%, Total acidity .54, pH 3.50, Residual sugar .06.
Tasting Notes
This wine is very fragrant in the nose, (peach, pear, pineapple, with light toastiness) supple and long on the palate, with a crisp, lingering finish. Enjoy with fried calamari, scallops with a curry sauce, crab cakes, filet of sole with almonds, corn chowder, macaroni and cheese, or turkey panini.
Benziger Farming Practices
Benziger Family Winery is leading a new definition of wine quality through its Farming for FlavorsTM, organic and Biodynamic® winegrowing practices. Their 85-acre, certified Biodynamic Sonoma Mountain estate has become a research and teaching center for the cultivation of grapes with more flavor, intensity and site-specific vineyard character. The family shares its farming knowledge and experience with their longtime grower partners throughout Sonoma County.
Grapes for all Benziger wines are grown by one of three farming methods: Farming for Flavors, organic or Biodynamic. By reducing chemicals that mask the unique personality of vineyard sites, restoring the land and encouraging biodiversity on the farm, Benziger growers distinguish their fruit from all others. This distinction is of great importance to the grapegrower who makes a truly unique product, but also to the consumer who can trust that the passion of family farming and the delicious diversity of Sonoma County can be tasted in every bottle of high quality, handcrafted Benziger wine.
Benziger History
More than 25 years ago, Mike and Mary Benziger discovered the overgrown ranch that would become Benziger Family Winery. They purchased the land with the help of Mike's father, Bruno Benziger, a wine and spirits importer from New York. A year later, Mike's parents and his six siblings moved to Glen Ellen to help build the winery. Today, more than two-dozen Benzigers live on and around the estate winery in Sonoma County.
Terry Nolan, Winemaker