(image: Chalk Hill Estate)
Like this author, Chalk Hill Estate Vineyards was born in 1972, predating the official indoctrination of the Chalk Hill AVA. And thus forevermore Chalk Hill wines will slightly confuse would-be wine buyers who, upon picking up a bottle, wonder why the name Chalk Hill is listed twice on the label. You know, the way that MTV videos (back when they actually showed music videos) would put the name of the song, album, and artist in the bottom corner, which was always funny when they were all the same… like “Big Country” from the album “Big Country” by the band “Big Country”… Sh*t, I am feeling really old right now.
Anyway…
During a recent Zoom tasting with Chalk Hill’s Winemaker Michael Beaulac and Vineyard Manager Brian Malone, I was able to temporarily forget about how old I feel and take a deep dive into their bread-and-butter variety: Chardonnay. Bread-and-butter is actually a pretty good catch phrase for their white wines, which hailing from the relatively warm Chalk Hill AVA tend to be ripe and powerfully built (though also balanced, thanks to the influence of rolling fog even despite its distance from the Petaluma Gap). And Chardonnay is absolutely their bread-and-butter in the figurative sense: about 120 acres (or just under half) of their 295 acres of plantings are devoted to Chardonnay, with 20+ clones planted (which demonstrates just how important the variety is to their production, history, and identity).
It’s not all bread-and-butter, of course – there’s quite a bit more to the big, bold, and beautiful Chardonnays that Chalk Hill Estate, from the Chalk Hill AVA, can muster from the vines grown on (you knew this was coming) Chalk Hill…
2018 Chalk Hill Estate Chardonnay (Chalk Hill, $39)
This white is the bread-and-butter release from Chalk Hill’s bread-and-butter variety, meant to showcase how Chardonnay performs across the entire estate. As Malone described it, “There’s a wide variety of slopes, aspects, soil types… there’s like 13 different soil series on the vineyard. Chalk Hill is very unique, because it lies within this region that’s warmer than the interior, yet cooler than Alexander Valley. The fog rolls right up to our ranch, then it actually will retract right out to the coast, so we get a lot of solar exposure.” Some work is required, therefore, to ensure that the Chardonnay grapes don’t bake in all of that sunlight and heat. “The main thing with Chardonnay,” Malone added “is keeping the integrity of the fruit… We actually will manicure the vines in a way to allow sunlight to penetrate the canopy, it’s more of a dappled light.”
This estate blend sees 100% native yeast, 100% malolactic, and 100% French oak (44% new) for…
