2020 Chardonnay (Sonoma Coast)

Matt Courtney’s 2020 Chardonnays are among the highlights of this tricky vintage. Courtney leaned heavily on his prior experience at Marcassin when it came time to make decisions about what to bottle. “For Pinot Noir, it all came down to the location of specific sites,” he told me. “Some vineyards we did not pick at all, others were not affected. I remember that in 2008, when I was at Marcassin, the Pinots seemed fine during winemaking and élevage but then started showing obvious signs of taint after bottling, so we were very careful. We had no issues with the Chardonnays that year.” Not surprisingly given the challenges of the season, the Chardonnays are more consistent across the board, although they naturally don’t reach the highs of better vintages. Whole cluster pressing, natural ferments and malolactic fermentations, long élevage (12 months in barrel, with light bâtonnage and no racking, then another six months in tank) are the foundation of the approach here.