Variety: Chardonnay

Stand above the fog line and glimpse the power of the Pacific at 1500 ft. elevation and you’ll begin to understand what attracted David Hirsch to his extreme site back in 1980. Hirsch was not born into the wine world. Rather he was a lover of pinot noir, more specifically Burgundy, to which I can very much relate. Buying and selling textiles between the US and France, he reached a turning point. The lure of a quiet farm life with his family brought him to Fort-Ross Seaview, on the Sonoma coast, just three hours from San Francisco. The property sits on a ridgeline, cleared of redwoods and fir trees with a climate that is incredibly coastal. Straddling the San Andreas Fault, the soils are intensely complex. Most world class vineyard sites are known for only having a few soils. Hirsch, on the other hand, has 44 different soil types. It should come as no surprise that this is one of the most expressive and important vineyards in the US.

In this rare, sought after Chardonnay from the Hirsch estate is the mentality of creating a wine completely from the expression of the land—fruit and oak coming in second. David Hirsch originally had the crazy idea to plant Nebbiolo at this site, but Burt Williams of Williams Selyem convinced him he was nuts and to plant Chardonnay instead. The vineyard is within the Fort Ross Seaview appellation in Sonoma Coast, complete with sunshine and looming fogs from the coast. Oak ageing involves Austrian and French oak barrels, 27% of which are new.