Location: Sonoma Coast, CA
Alcohol: 13.3%

This wine has the white peach, toasted almond or marshmallow, and ripe pear nose that is expected with Chardonnay, as well as plenty of weight, length, and richness. It is not showy, however—its incredible opulence is natural, not created in the cellar. It has a distinct core of rock dust, or ground oyster shell, which is the distinguishing characteristic of the vineyard.

The fruit is picked in two batches. The first batch, 80% of the wine, is harvested very early, to capture the high natural acidity and maintain a moderate alcohol level. The second harvest, 20% of the wine, is harvested a little longer to capture the richness and power of the vineyard site. The fruit from each harvest is lightly whole-cluster pressed, settled for 24 hours, then barrel fermented. The wine goes through 100% malolactic fermentation in older neutral barrels and a few new French oak barrels. It is given 18 months of barrel aging, with no topping or sulfur added until bottling. There is also no battonage—the wine rests on the gross lees undisturbed.

Michael Mara Vineyard is west of the town of Sonoma, at the base of the Sonoma Mountain range. The soil is the result of a cataclysmic landslide that cascaded rocks and volcanic soil down onto one spot of the valley below. Surrounded by normal valley floor loam, the Michael Mara Vineyard is situated on a unique lobe of rocks and red soil.