2008 Lexington

If I had to choose one winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains that is moving fast into the upper echelon, it would be Fogarty. Many of the region's other top properties are already pretty established, but Fogarty is less well known than some of their neighbors. Based on these wines, I can't imagine that is going to last too much longer. Like all of their neighbors, Fogarty endured poor weather during flowering that caused high amounts of shatter and low yields. Pinot yields were around one ton per acre, but some s produced no fruit at all. The wines more make up for that shortfall with their superb quality. The 2011 harvest started on the 3rd week of September, two weeks later than normal. The 2011 Pinots spent 18 months in barrel, except for the Santa Cruz Mountains bottling, which saw 10 months in oak. The 2010 harvest started even later, on September 27, and remains the latest on record. Heat spikes at the end of the season provided the last bit of ripeness. Pinot was picked first, while the Chardonnay came in during the weeks that followed. A last bit of Chardonnay was harvested in early November, pretty much unheard of anywhere else in the world. The 2010s are the first Chardonnays to be fermented entirely with native yeasts. The single-vineyard wines spent about 18 months in French oak. Sadly, Fogarty did not bottle their Portola Springs and Damiana Chardonnays because yields were too low.