2010 Chardonnay Whitney's Vineyard

Fisher Vineyards is very much a family affair. Fred and Juelle Fisher founded the winery in 1973 and have since been joined by their three children. Whitney Fisher handles the winemaking duties, her brother Cameron takes care of sales and their brother Rob runs the business as General Manager. The Fishers own two estates. Their Napa Valley property, located in Calistoga, is the source of the flagship Cabernets Coach Insignia and Lamb Vineyard, as well as the Cameron, a young vines bottling. The Spring Mountain estate, which is on the Sonoma side of the appellation, is the source of the Wedding Vineyard and Mountain Estate Vineyard Cabernets, as well as the Chardonnays. Once again, I was deeply impressed with the wines I tasted. Fisher Vineyards remains one of California's undiscovered jewels.

In the opinion of winemaker Whitney Fisher, "2009 is a dark fruit year and a mountain year, like 2005 and 2007 in a lot of ways." She emphasized that Fisher's vineyards, which sit on the western slopes of the Mayacamas range, ensure relatively even growing seasons, "without the big swings that sites closer to or on the floor experience." She thinks that the '09 reds are in a nice spot now aromatically, but will be going into their closed phase soon, and they have plenty of upside for aging. Mountain vineyards are mostly spared issues that plague vintages with late-season rain, like 2009, she added, because of better drainage and windy conditions that mitigate rot pressure.