La Crema Russian River Chardonnay

The Chardonnay grapes for La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay are hand-selected from cool estate and grower vineyard sites within the Sonoma Coast boundaries – all within 30 miles of the Pacific Ocean. Grapes for this wine were picked at the coolest times of the day, by both hand pickers and machines. Hand-picked whole clusters and machine-picked berries went immediately to press. The juice spent one night in tank to settle, before being racked into predominantly French oak barrels to ferment. The barrels are primarily French with some American for sweet spice and complexity (17% new). A small percentage was put into stainless steel tank fermenters in order to preserve the aromas of fresh fruit. After inoculation of malolactic culture, and stirring every three to four weeks, the wine was ready to be blended and bottled after 7 months of ageing.