In the mess that was the world in 2020 we were too late to commit to another vintage of the fabled Bazanno fruit we were so fortunate to get from Farmer Joe Valera in 2019. Adding insult to injury it was sold to Gallo only to be buried in abnondescript blend.  Nearby Bazanno is a vineyard from which I had made Chardonnay for a former client, who had ceased making wine. I loved the wine from those grapes, which I had helped him make. Furthermore, the family, who owns the vineyard, had a sympathetic Marine Corps ethos. As an adrenaline and
testosterone imbalanced young man in military school, I had fantasized about being one of the, “…few, the proud, the Marines.” Furthermore, an uncle I had admired was a Marine fighter pilot in Vietnam. Appellation, pedigree, and sympathy completed the charm of three.  Most importantly and fortuitously, the fruit from Fidelis Vineyard was still available. With the fires of 2020 bearing down on the Russian River Valley, former Marine and farmer of the Fidelis Vineyard, Bobby Anderson, rallied and got the fruit off the vine and into the winery with almost perfect chemistry. We pressed it lightly to avoid extracting potential smoke taint from the skins. We had to add a bit of water to dilute the sugars back from what would have been an imbalanced boozy +14% alcohol Chardonnay.  After performing an acid trial, we also added 0.5 g tartaric acid / Liter to give us an option with malolactic conversion.  If we were to let it go all the way through, as we did, it would have potentially been too flabby. Renaissance’s Viva yeast fermented clean and steady at below 65 F for about two weeks allowing for maximum retention of aromatics.

We let it go all the way through malaolactic on its lees in its temperature controlled stainless steel tank, as it was not kicking out too many buttery aromatics. The Christian Hansen CiNe Oenococcus oeni strain performed its job reliably:) It did end up a bit flabby for our taste, so we performed another acid trial and landed on an addition of 0.35 g Tartaric acid / Liter. It then aged sur lie in tank for 5 months before being racked. Because the wine went through complete malolactic conversion, our meticulous cellar sanitation practices, and a clean Scorpions report (scan for spoilage organisms) we were able to confidently pull a drum (~20-25 cases) from the tank to be bottled unfiltered.