2008 Chardonnay Rincon Vineyard

Brian Talley doesn't miss a beat. This is an impressive set of wines from top to bottom. In general, I had a slight preference for the 2008 Chardonnays over the 2009s, as I found that the older vintage showed more delineation and finesse. Readers who prefer a bold, overt style of Chardonnay may find more immediate pleasure in the 2009s. Unfortunately I was not able to taste the 2009 Pinots, which had just been bottled. The 2008 Pinots are terrific, but they need quite a bit of air to show their best. The Chardonnays were fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged on their lees in 30% new oak. The Pinots are fermented in open top fermenters, using native yeasts, and aged in barrel for 18-19 months. Talley used 30-35% new oak for the Pinots.

Brian Talley admitted that it's an ongoing struggle "to fight this ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) thing when we get a hot vintage like 2007. Too many of the wines play right into the stereotype of California chardonnays being too buttery, too rich, too heavy too everything." That said, the style here continues to emphasize balance over power, and that goes for the pinots as well as the chardonnays. Talley is pleased that his 2008s and young 2009s showcase his house style, "which is for intensity and depth of fruit and without going over the top," while acknowledging that '06 and '07 were warmer vintages "that made achieving that a real struggle. You want to preserve freshness but you also have to harvest when the fruit is ripe. Just picking early for its own sake runs the danger of getting greenness, which is a poor trade-off for the extra acidity. The fruit has to be properly ripe, which doesn't have to mean overripe if you manage your vineyards well and work with the canopies."