Aperture Chenin Blanc 2022
(North Coast, California) - [WA 93] [JS 93] [JD 92] [WS 91]

Notes from the Winemaker:
This fruit was hand-harvested and brought in on the cool morning of September
27th. We lightly whole cluster pressed the fruit to a stainless steel tank where we let the juice chill at 50˚F for two days to settle. On the third day, we cleaned and racked it to a smaller tank leaving the heavy sediment behind. Three days later, the fermentation started naturally and we kept the fermentation below 56˚F until half the sugar was consumed. At 10 brix we transferred the young wine to barrels where it spent the remaining time on lees until just before bottling. We used half stainless-steel barrels, half once used French oak barrels for the 2020 Chenin Blanc. Once it was transferred to barrel, the wine was placed in our cold barrel room to keep the fermentation cool and slow, maintaining freshness and bright aromatics. As the wine slowly fermented for an additional 3 weeks in barrel, we topped and stirred each barrel weekly. The wine stayed in those same barrels for 6 months. At that point, we stopped malolactic fermentation in order to keep more of the fruit's natural, bright acidity.

Tasting Notes:
This vibrant wine showcases notes of passion fruit, nectarines, and honeysuckle
with brightly lifted acidity.

APPELLATION
Clarksburg

VARIETAL
Chenin Blanc

BARREL PROGRAM
Aged 6 Months
75% stainless-steel barrels
20% neutral French oak
5% cement tank

Ratings & Reviews

93 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:
The 2022 Chenin Blanc was matured mostly in stainless steel, with smaller portions in neutral French oak and cement. It's bursting with alluring scents of kumquat, kiwi, white peaches and gravel dust. It's a pretty expression with Goldilocks ripeness. The palate features a focused spine of acidity that drives its concentrated, expansive flavors, and it has a long finish that seems to gain in intensity with each sip. 6,000 cases produced. 2025 - 2032.

93 Points - James Suckling:
Very pretty with green melon and white peach aromas as well as honey blossom. Medium body with a creamy texture and a balanced, flavorful and delicious finish. Lovely texture. From chenin planted in the 1940s from Clarksburg and fermented in concrete eggs. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

92 Points - Jeb Dunnuck:
A brilliant straw color with a green hue and bottled under screwcap, the 2022 Chenin Blanc is floral and fresh with notes of ripe peach, tropical flowers, and melon rind. Medium-bodied, with a soft mineral texture and delicate saline touch, it offers pithy citrus of tangerine, green almond, and fresh pear and a a clean finish. This is a lovely wine to drink over the next 4-5 years.


91 Points - Wine Spectator:
This intense, bright and crisp white offers notes of pomelo and pineapple up front, with accents of white pepper. Shows a thread of minerality and an accent of beeswax on a plump, juicy frame. Drink now. 6,000 cases made.