TECHNICAL INFORMATION:

Certified Organically Grown
Harvest date: September 29, 2021
Fruit source: Own-rooted Wente clone planted 1977
Grapes at harvest: Brix 22.1, pH 3.19, TA 7.9 g/L
Finished wine: Alcohol 13.4 %, pH 3.32, TA 6.1 g/L
Barrel aged 12 months in French oak, 37% new barrels, and 4 months in
stainless steel
180 cases bottled unfined on February 13, 2023 
 

VINIFICATION:

The Wente grapes were whole cluster pressed under a blanket of carbon dioxide and the juice settled cold for 72 hours before being racked to barrels. The new wine completed alcoholic fermentation in a month, underwent full malolactic fermentation in the Spring, and spent 12 months in barrel. The barrels were then stirred one time to incorporate the lees, and racked to stainless steel tanks for an additional 4 months of aging prior to bottling.    
 

WINEMAKER NOTES: 

Our 45-year-old Wente Chardonnay produced some of our most detailed and compelling wines in recent years, a departure from its youth when it struggled to achieve ripeness in cool vintages. While 2021 will be remembered as a warm vintage, it’s important to remember that this was true only until the calendar flipped to October, when significantly cooler weather entered the valley and gave the High Wire the time it needed to produce a wine of both elegance and power, with a succulent core of acidity and hints of fine grain tannin that are the signature of the Wente clone.  

FACT SHEET