2020 Quaker Run Chardonnay
2020 Quaker Run Chardonnay
96 Pts - James Suckling
Critically acclaimed, our Quaker Run Chardonnay authentically represents its Virginia terroir. Inspired by Burgundy's nuance and restraint and California's boldness, this Virginia Chardonnay features notes of lemon curd, white stone fruits, allspice, and starfruit. The 2020 vintage, distinguished by its extended fermentation and lees contact, offers a well-balanced harmony of acidity, texture, and a subtle phenolic character. As a proud expression of our revered mountainside vineyard, the Quaker Run Chardonnay stands as a testament to the distinctive qualities and meticulous attention to detail that define its production.
In Stock
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Composition / Blend
100% Chardonnay
Size
750mL
Wine Specs
Vintage
2020
Vineyard Designation
Quaker Run Vineyard
Aging
Thirteen months on the fermentation lees in 2 year old 500L barrels from northern European oak with light and medium toasts. An additional 4 months on the fermentation lees in stainless steel before bottling.
Bottling Date
01/21/2022
Alcohol %
12.7
Winemaker Notes
This vineyard designate Chardonnay is made from the oldest vines at our Quaker Run Vineyard (planted in 1999). We realized this block was special for Chardonnay and in 2015 we pursued a single vineyard bottling. With the overarching goal that this parcel would be bottled separately, from pruning throughout the whole growing season, we farm this block differently from other Chardonnays. This approach and patience is continued in the cellar, with fermentation, barrel choices, lees work all seeking to highlight the precision in the vineyard. Due to our reliance on ambient yeast for the fermentation, and the ripeness of the grapes, the wine fermented for four months and continued to rest on its lees until January of 2022, when it was bottled.
Vineyard Notes
The 2020 growing season in Virginia was dynamic. With an early budbreak followed by frost risk in late April and early May, Early Mountain was lucky to avoid the worst of it with only a Petit Manseng block and some lower areas of Chardonnay impacted. The first half of the growing season was relatively dry and quite hot in June and July. Late July and early August brought a lot of moisture that was very challenging, but things dried out a bit heading into harvest. We ended up in a dance with the Atlantic, as tropical systems waltzed through every ten days for two months. Once again, we were lucky to be spared the worst of the weather, and we emerged at the end of harvest with a cellar full of high quality 2020 wines. In the spirit of every vintage being different from every other in our state, 2020 was unique in that the first half produced lighter wines with high acid and the second half brought riper, more classic wines.
Aging
Thirteen months on the fermentation lees in 2 year old 500L barrels from northern European oak with light and medium toasts. An additional 4 months on the fermentation lees in stainless steel before bottling.