2009 Hirsch Vineyards Chardonnay

2009 Hirsch Vineyards Chardonnay

In our 2009 Chardonnay, you will find a wine of purity, acidity and minerality. With less than 4 acres of Chardonnay vines, production is very limited.

1 Review(s)

SOLD OUT! 2010 vintage will be released in Spring 2012

Our first chardonnay vineyard was planted in 1994. That year, David Hirsch prepared 2.5 acres for planting on a rocky, 40% slope above his house. He was enamored with Barolo and had the crazy idea to put in nebbiolo. One night he met Burt Williams and Ed Selyem, who were buying our pinot noir for their winery Williams Selyem. On entering the restaurant, Burt yelled from the back, “Plant chardonnay! We’ll buy it.” Thus the old chardonnay vineyard was born. The cuttings came from Joe Rochioli. Williams Selyem made the wine from 1997 to 2000; Kistler took the fruit through 2005. In 2002 David planted an additional 1.4 acres of chardonnay on a sandstone hill in field 12, just over the hill from the old vineyard. Together these two tiny vineyards comprise our estate chardonnay, first produced in 2006.

This wine is a product of four vinification processes: fermented and aged on (1) glass, (2) oak, and (3) stainless steel; and (4) fermented on stainless steel and aged in oak. All four components were blended and racked to mostly neutral French oak barrels nine months before bottling.

Wine Specs

Vintage 2009

Varietal Chardonnay

Appellation Sonoma Coast

Vineyard Designation Hirsch Vineyards

Harvest Date Sept. 8-10, 2009

Acid 0.63 mg / 100ml

PH 3.32

Bottling Date January 19, 2011

Alcohol % 14.0

Wine Profile

Tasting Notes Primary impressions of brightness, vibrancy and delicate but persistent aromatics. Fresh white flowers, lemon zest and jasmine flower on the nose. Impressions of spring. With air, notes of starfruit, wet riverstones, honeysuckle, vanilla bean and orange oil emerge. On the palate, citrus, white peach and no noticeable oak. The mouthfeel is energetic, with a silky mid-palate and long finish.

Production 725 cases

Product Reviews

Jason Restivo
(May 25, 2011 at 8:44 PM)

I found myself having doubts about California producing Chardonnay that really captures true terrior, until this past spring. We recently had the pleasure of enjoying this terroir driven expression of high altitude chardonnay, crisp acids, tartlette of green apples & sublte notes of guava layer the palate. A great chardonnay like this desires foods that are rich with flavor and the texture of fried food with bright acids is a perfect match for the summer in Savannah!