2011 Chardonnay Sonoma Coast

Byron Kosuge told me he has been in the process of "steadily backing off the oak now" and is "trying to make more elegant wines" than he did during his tenure at Saintsbury.What's funny, or ironic, he says, "is that in their day those were the most elegant pinots and chardonnays, which tells you how things have evolved in California."Kosuge said that while he is trying to avoid "recipe winemaking" he is keen to work with whole clusters for his pinots "if they're properly ripe, but that's a moving target in the cool areas like the Sonoma Coast so it's critical to be flexible and not dogmatic."He said that the light crop of 2011 and dragged-out season was angst-inducing "and there was a lot of work in the vines to keep healthy fruit" but the resulting quality pleases him because "there's good flavor definition and balance"; he added that the wines will probably be at their best on the early side.