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1999 Maison Grand Cru Chardonnay |
 Rutz
Cellars' Maison Grand Cru designation represents the best blend
of the vintage from select Chardonnay vineyards. The 1999
vintage produced outstanding fruit from all of our vineyard
sources; including Dutton Ranch, which represents the greatest
part of this blend. 100% Russian River Valley fruit, this
complex wine comprises nine separately handled wine lots and
four different yeast strains. All lots were chilled to 50°F or
below and cold-settled for 24 hours before being moved to French
oak barriques for fermentation. After primary fermentation all
lots went through 100% malolactic fermentation. The wine was
then aged on the lees and hand stirred every two weeks. The
blend was assembled in March, 2000, and put back to barrel. Lees
stirring continued for an additional 3-4 months. Aged for a
total of 9 months
in 25% new and 75% one- and two-year-old French oak barrels the
cuvee was bottled in August, 2000. This wine was entirely
produced within the optimal environment provided by the constant
high humidity and low temperature of the Rutz Cellars caves.
This fact, combined with the outstanding structure and acidity
of Russian River Valley fruit help to make Rutz Cellars
Chardonnays very long lived wines.
This Chardonnay has very balanced fruit and French oak character in the nose with the fruit aromas of peach and ripe pears predominating. The flavors are very full and rich with substantial middle body and tongue coating flavors and a forty-second finish! Harvest Dates – October 13 – 20 pH – 3.70 Alcohol – 13.7% Total Acid – 0.610g/100ml Cases Produced – 2165 |