This Chenin opens with floral geranium and honeysuckle. It has key lime and lemon zest, with a load of saline and oyster shell on the palate. There is a kiss of dried apricot and guava that runs through it. It gets its full and rich texture from the old vines of the Jurassic Vineyard, which produce layered and age worthy Chenin Blancs.
Hand harvested October 24th from Jurassic Park Vineyard, the grapes were whole cluster pressed and settled for 24 hours before racking. The juice was divided 50% into a stainless steel tank where it was inoculated with X16 yeast, and fermented at 65 F until dryness, once dry it received SO2 and was racked into neutral French oak barrels. The remaining gallons were racked into neutral French oak barrels and inoculated with X16 yeast for fermentation. These barrels were also SO2’d at the end of fermentation to prevent the wine from going through malolactic fermentation. This wine was aged for 6 months in oak before racking, bentonite and PVPP fining, and sterile filtration before bottling, so vegan.
111 cases produced
Final Girl 2021 Chenin Blanc
$30.00
The Jurassic Vineyard is the Santa Ynez Valley and sits at 1000 feet elevation on sandy, well drained limestone soils. It is named for the fossil rich soils in the area, a land where dinosaurs roamed in the Jurassic era. The vineyard was planted between 1978 and 1982, making it some of the oldest Chenin Blanc in the state. It is own-rooted and enjoys a constant breeze from the Pacific. I have been lucky to visit this Chenin mecca, and the vines are gnarly and twisted and feel like fossils. They made highly textural and layered wines that some of California’s best Chenin makers count as their best.