2021 Cerise Vineyard Chardonnay

The 2021 Chardonnay Cerise Vineyard opens with impressive Burgundian-like aromatics that lead the way to a gorgeously expressive exploration of green apple, pear, honeycomb, and baking spice with a supple, velvety texture and intensity. Cerise is an estate site planted on steep hillsides between 600 and 1,600 feet, with Chardonnay all Wente clone. Winemaker Julien Howsepian 100% whole-cluster presses the grapes, which ferment entirely in barrel for nearly a year. The wine is a knockout and has plenty of life to age through 2041. This well-known Sonoma County-based collectible wine brand was started by Dan Kosta and Michael Browne in 1997, and both led and rode the considerable Pinot Noir wave of fame during the following decades. Bought by Duckhorn Wine Company in 2018, the winery continues to focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from some 40 vineyards along the Oregon and California coast, working with several Anderson Valley sites since the beginning. It purchased the Cerise Vineyard in 2016. Julien Howsepian worked as a harvest intern at KB in 2012 and was named winemaker seven years later.