Mayacamas Vineyards Napa Valley Chardonnay

Since 2013, the Schottenstein family and winemaker Andy Erickson have rigorously attended to the identity of Mayacamas – not merely with the intention of preservation, but invigoration. Working with Travers in the 2012 vintage, the winemaking team learned to forgo new oak and instead implement the winery’s existing old casks – anything that still held wine. Only minor changes have since been implemented, including cooling equipment to stabilize fermentations and lengthen macerations (from twelve days to perhaps twenty). Greater work stood before them in the estate’s fifty planted acres. The winery called on Phil Cotturi, to replant the ailing, phylloxera-afflicted AXR-rooted vines, and to institute organic viticulture and continue dry-farming. The replanting process – only about five acres per year – promises to revive the estate’s yields for the next generation. 

Aromas of Meyer lemon, river rock, vanilla bean, and honeysuckle highlight the nose. On the palate, the wine strikes a balance of richness and focus. Mouthwatering acidity and flinty minerality lead into flavors of lemon curd, almond and passion fruit.