2015 Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard

This is a stellar set of new releases from Failla and proprietor Ehren Jordan. Whereas many 2015 Pinots are quite open, readers will find the exact opposite here. The early harvest and very poor set resulted in vines with small clusters and uneven ripening. Jordan chose to pick on the early side and to use a high percentage of whole clusters to bring acidities down naturally. Those decisions have resulted in wines, especially the Pinots, that are very closed and reticent, both within the context of the year, but also relative to what readers have come to expect from Failla in recent vintages, when the wines have been much more showy early on. Even so, there are many highlights in this lineup.