For Vintage Year 2008

2008 proved to be a difficult vintage for most winemakers, due to a long, devastating Spring frost which left most Sonoma County vineyards with 40% less crop. However while fruit yield suffered, wine quality did not.

Grapes for our 2008 Wild Oak Chardonnay were sourced from three highly-regarded Sonoma Valley vineyards, including our estate Behler vineyard. Maturity was reached early at 24.1 Brix. The fruit immediately went to press, and only free-run juice was sent to its own stainless steel tank, pre-chilled to encourage lees settling. After 48 hrs it was pumped to barrels, and sent to a temperature-controlled room to ferment. Using only native yeasts from the grapes themselves, primary fermentation took nearly one month to complete. The barrels were then brought back to ambient cellar temperature to undergo partial malo-lactic fermentation.

The resulting chardonnay is full of energy, with zesty aromas of lemon and ginger. Mouthfeel is medium weight, though acidity is higher so as to produce an intense feeling of minerality. Notes of verbena and mallow are enjoyed mid-palate. The lengthy finish displays notes of pear and brioche.

HARVEST Aug. - Sept. 2008
AGING Eight Months
STORAGE French & American Oak
pH 3.16 TA 0.75g/100 mls
BOTTLING June 2009
ALCOHOL 14.5% by volume
AGING POTENTIAL 3 to 5 years
CASES PRODUCED 2000 cases

This 2007 vintage draws on fruit from three outstanding vineyards. The majority of the fruit comes from the valley floor of our estate Lagomarsino Vineyard located in the Russian River Valley appellation. The grapes from this region impart floral overtones and a touch of rich tropical fruit. To complete the blend, fruit from the Mauritson Vineyard in the Dry Creek Valley and select fruit from the Yamakawa Vineyard in Carneros-Sonoma imparts elegant aromas of fresh Fuji apples.

The 2007 vintage brought an early harvest with a hot climate. This resulted in fermenting at low temperatures for a longer period of time, which contributed to the crisp yet full-bodied Chardonnay that offers plush fruit in a clearly Burgundian context.

The finished Chardonnay has a rich creamy texture, tropical fruits and butterscotch-vanilla overtones from the use of French oak barrels for aging.

Wild Oak, the site of our Winery in Sonoma Valley, named to honor Sonoma’s Heritage Oak trees. Wild Oak wines by St. Francis are made from grapes that have been hand-picked from small lots of elite terroir bordered by Heritage oak trees in Sonoma County’s most outstanding vineyards.

Wild Oak Chardonnay is a crisp yet full-bodied chardonnay that offers plush fruit in a clearly Burgundian context.

The blend draws on outstanding sections of vineyards in three diverse parts of Sonoma County, including the St. Francis estate Behler Vineyard in Sonoma Valley.

Approximately half of the grapes are from the Yamakawa Vineyard in the wind-chilled Carneros-Sonoma AVA, which lends a high-toned purity and an elegant aroma of fresh Fuji apples.

The Chardonnay grown in the Sonoma Valley and Russian River Valley appellations impart the floral overtones and a touch of rich tropical fruit.

The finished Chardonnay has a wonderfully creamy texture with butterscotch-vanilla undertones from the use of French oak barrels for aging.

Winemaker Notes:
2005 was a late, cool year that began with a wet spring. Wines from a cooler vintage are generally higher in acid and lower in alcohol, and the Wild Oak Chardonnay is no exception, tending towards Burgundian crispness rather than the California ripeness of the 2004 vintage Chardonnays. 2005 was a vigorous year in the vineyards, so we responded by aggressive shoot thinning, leaf pulling and hedging by hand to open up the vine canopy and provide the grapes with the sunlight and air flow necessary for optimal ripening. The wines selected for this blend were generally from Carneros and the Russian River Valley, with one noteable exception: a unique "Muscat clone" from the Mauritson Vineyard in Alexander Valley was included in the blend to add a perfumed, spicy note. All of the wines were barrel-fermented in French oak. To maximize complexity in the flavor profile, we used four different yeast strains isolated from Burgundy as well as three different malolactic bacteria strains. Malolactic fermentation was initiated in all of the barrels, but was arrested at 2/3 completion to maintain crisp acidity as well as a vibrant fruit intensity. Each barrel was stirred by hand three times a week to enrich the wine with viscous manoproteins and polysaccharides released from the fermentation lees. The final blend was assembled after each barrel was painstakingly sampled to ensure only the richest, most complex, wine was selected for the Wild Oak Chardonnay.

Tasting Notes:
Wild Oak Chardonnay is a crisp yet full-bodied chardonnay that offers plush fruit in a clearly Burgundian context. The blend draws on outstanding sections of eight vineyards in diverse parts of Sonoma County, including the St. Francis Estate in Sonoma Valley. About one-third is from the Yamakawa Vineyard in the wind-chilled Carneros-Sonoma AVA, which lends a high-toned purity and lemon chiffon flavor with bracing acidity. Vineyards in Dry Creek Valley, Alexander Valley, and Russian River Valley impart floral overtones, a touch of tropical fruit, and pinpoint acid balance, all finished with a wonderfully creamy texture and the butterscotch-vanilla undertones from French oak.


Harvest Date: September/October 2005
Aging: 6 Months
pH: 3.3/0.69 g/100ml
Alcohol: 14.4%
Storage/Barrels: 100% French Oak
Bottling Date: June 2006
Composition: 100% Chardonnay
Case Production: 2,500 Cases