2010 Viognier Estate

Vintage 2010 wasn't kind to Peay, as yields were down a full 50%. Then again, that is not unusual for extreme coastal sites that require heroic viticulture and relentless commitment to quality, exactly the values the Peay family embodies. Andy Peay told me 2010 required considerable sorting because of brutally cold weather. The late season heat spikes were less of an issue as most of the vines were in veraison at the time. Readers should note that the Peay Pinots aren't vineyard designates, but rather are crafted to have specific signatures. The 2010s were made from fully de-stemmed fruit.

"We knew that farming on the coast would be a struggle, which helps to ease the pain of the last few years, a little," Andy Peay told me in March, adding that "from a cold business sense nobody should start up what we did, where we did." He was referring especially to the devastating (and naturally crop-thinning) spring frosts of 2008 and the fact that yields were cut in half in 2010 due to a cold and wet flowering season. "Not the most attractive business plan," he mused. At the end of our tasting Peay opened a bottle of the 2004 Chardonnay Estate and it is drinking extremely well now, offering an array of ripe orchard and citrus fruit qualities along with suggestions of iodine and bitter herbs. It's fully mature but in no danger of going off the edge any time soon.