AMERICAN WINE

The Wild Bee! The Wild Bee represents a shift in Big Table Farm's Chardonnay program. This wine takes the place of their Willamette Valley Chardonnay – only in name, label and price! Same vineyard sources, same winemaking, same barrels. The Wild Bee is a combination of all 6 sites of Chardonnay that they work with and is a fantastic representation of Willamette Valley Chardonnay for 2019.

At first blush this wine's aromatics offer up lemon custard and stone fruit. This is a clean bright expression of Chardonnay. It has a persistant white floral note that leads into warm toast and hazelnut – this all shows off the perfectly developed golden grapes that finish like a bite of perfectly ripe pear. The acid is fine and complex without any hard edges giving this wine tension to help you appreciate it's subtleties.

After nearly 25 years of experience producing Chardonnay for other wineries, Greg now produces his own version of this classic California Chardonnay under his own label. The fruit comes from the Sangiacomo Family Vineyards just south of the town of Sonoma in the Carneros area, which provides ideal soils and climate. The Sangiacomos have been sustainably farming for three generations, providing quality grapes for numerous wineries since the late 1960s.

The fruit was selected from older established blocks. Each block was separately hand-harvested, pressed in a basket press, and then fermented in one third each new barrels, one-year barrels and older barrels in a cold (50º F) storage area. After primary fermentation the wine was inoculated for a second, malolactic fermentation and aged on its lees for nearly nine months, with the yeast lees gently stirred bi-weekly.

This Chardonnay is a story of balance, a delicious intersection of richness and minerality that benefits from the classical standard of viticulture, care of the land, and winemaking that is as relevant today as it was in 1893 when Stags' Leap Winery celebrated its first vintage.

Walter Scott believes in Willamette Valley Chardonnay. This classic varietal has an important place in this region and at Walter Scott, not in the replication of other inspirational regions, but in its own distinctive style, with its own compelling voice. Chardonnay is a grape which is able to translate Willamette Valley's unique geology in the same way Pinot Noir can. Through thoughtful farming and cellar practices, Walter Scott strives to allow Chardonnay to reach its powerful Willamette Valley potential.

Their approach to Chardonnay pays attention to texture and structure, translating site and vintage. The La Combe Verte is fermented with 100% ambient yeast and full malolactic conversion in large barrels with very little batonnage. The wine is lightly fined and filtered prior to bottling to brighten aromatics and give a polished finish. The result is an illuminating style of chardonnay, showcasing density and precision. The palate spotlights evolving layers of textures which follow the aromatic notes of lemon blossoms, with the finish offering a subtle mineral and saline character.