Sourced from Calesa Vineyard, a Petaluma Gap site perched on a high plateau with northwest-facing slopes and soils flecked with gravel and quartz. This is quite pretty — a flinty, mineral-driven wine interwoven with citrus peel and salinity, elegant cedarwood spice, and a cool acid crunch. Ripe yellow apple and pear join crushed Marcona almonds, a hint of vanilla, and good phenolic grip. Clone Dijon 76 — fragrant and laser-focused. Just gorgeous. Venge and team produce only about 150 cases of this barrel-fermented Chardonnay, made with native yeast and native malo, aged 15 months in 40% new French oak. All night-picked, whole-cluster pressed, given a two-day settle, then treated with a small sulfur adjustment before native-yeast fermentation. Some lots underwent native malolactic fermentation. Bâtonnage starts with more frequent stirring and tapers off as the wines age. Bottled unfiltered and unfined.