1995
Paul Hobbs Chardonnay, Richard Dinner Vineyard
Winemaker's Notes
Abundant fruit, sweet, ripe aromas of pear, apple, orange-peel and honey combine lavishly with vanilla, clove, and toasty oak wood. Layered, and lingering on the palate, this meticulously hand-crafted wine complements a wide assortment of richly flavored cuisine or can be enjoyed as an aperitif. This wine is worthy of several years of cellaring.
Vineyard
Owner/Manager
Caroline and Patti Dinner
Vineyard
Richard Dinner Vineyard
Clones
Old Wente
Vineyard Age
13 years
Site
Hillside, northern exposure, clay-loam with lens of volcanic tuft
Yield
2.7 tons/acre
Harvest
Harvest Date
October 5 and 6, 1995
Harvest Brix
Range: 22.8° - 23.6°
Growing Season
1995 produced a tiny crop at Dinner. Plant vigor was good but not excessive. Berries were unusually small correlating to remarkably flavorful fruit. Moreover, the growing season was excellent with only a bit of a scare caused by two hot spells during the period leading up to harvest . Hot dry air provoked a dehydration response in most vineyards and many succumbed. The Dinner vineyard, however, is deeply rooted. It also benefits from a protected exposure. The plants endured the assault allowing a pick under peak weather conditions, late in the season.
Winemaking
Hand-harvested grapes
Whole cluster, direct-to-press
Barrel fermented with indigenous yeast, 2 to 5 months to completion
Concurrent spontaneous malolactic fermentation
Barrel aged 10 months, 42% new French oak, sur-lies and stirred
Unblended, unfined, unfiltered; bottled August 1996
