Provocative. Sophisticated. Stimulating.

Our Sangiacomo Vineyard Chardonnay from Carneros is a signature wine. The individuality of the vineyard, the fingerprint of the vintage and the acumen of the winemaker are joined in each bottle. Expressing the marks of these three forces — earth, nature, and man — is fundamental to our mission, our philosophy and the wine we call Signaterra.

Winemaker Notes

Earth | Select vineyard blocks from Sangiacomo’s southern Sonoma acreage were chosen for their bright acidity and clean fruitf lavors. In this part of the vineyard, Chardonnay is planted to Old Wente Clone spaced approximately 7 by 5 feet apart. The loamy, clay soil and cool windy climate reduce vigor and yield thereby concentrating flavors in each cluster. is parcel of Sangiacomo Vineyard is farmed using Stellar-certified sustainable grape growing methods.

Nature | A dry winter led to a fairly early bud break in 2007. Overall, the growing season was evenly paced with a just a few heat spikes in the early summer. Warm August weather started harvest early, but then a cool September slowed things quite a bit and grapes hung on the vines another few weeks. is cool period helped to develop complexity in flavors while keeping sugars under control. 2007 was one of the longest harvests Sonoma County has seen in recent years, spanning almost three months from start to finish. is vintage was certainly smaller in quantity than 2006, but in many cases the lower yields meant more concentrated flavors.

Man | The vineyard lots for this wine were 100% cold barrel fermented, underwent partial malolactic fermentation and were aged in French oak barrels.