2005 Chardonnay

The breakthrough vintage for this promising new venture near the top of Spring Mountain will be the 2007, which was vinified by the talented Luc Morlet, who started here in July of last year, early enough to take steps to improve canopy management and reduce the size of the crop. The 40-acre property, purchased in 1999, is owned by Launny and Weezie Steffens, and now managed by their son Wesley. There were 14 acres of vines planted here in the late '80s and early '90s, but the Steffens family is in the process of replanting their terraced blocks, and in the meantime has been leasing a couple of vineyard blocks from neighbors on Spring Mountain. The cabernet is sorted by cluster and then berry by berry, then vinified in small stainless steel fermenters. With the '07 vintage, the wine is being aged in all new barriques. The earlier vintages here (the first commercial release was 2004) were made by Larry Langdon with a consulting assist from Christian LeSommer, who served for many years as manager of Chateau Latour. Incidentally, the name of the property is a reference to lucky numbers in the West and Far East.