Vineyard Notes: Camino Alto is located high in the foothills north of Camino, CA in El Dorado County. It is farmed by Ron Mansfield who oversees the vineyards of some of the best wineries in the foothills. His family has been growing grapes, peaches, plums, pears & apples in the foothills for three generations.
Cellar Notes: This is our first stab at Chardonnay in a few vintages, so we decided to try something special. The grapes were destemmed to the press, then the juice was cold settled for 3 days before racking. For fermentation, we used 3 barrels - one of which was new French oak - & left the remainder in stainless steel (47% oak / 53% stainless). When the wine reached dryness, around 9/29, we racked wine into the new barrel & 3 additional barrels for aging (80% barrel-aged / 20% new oak). The wine was then aged in barrel until July, when it was lightly filtered & bottled.
Tasting Notes: Revolution’s version of a California Chardonnay is luscious & layered, but not cloying. The fruits are bright citrus, dried stonefruit, & tropical. The new oak lends a bit of toasty brioche, but the wine is not terribly buttery, as the lovely acidity cuts through some of Chardonnay’s more overwhelming tendencies.