Whole cluster pressed Chardonnay from the volcanic, old-vine Chardonnay vineyard of John Guman. We made a tiny amount of wine in 2006, partly because we did a miserable job figuring out how to use a friend's press. generously lent to us, but not well adapted for pressing whole cluster fresh fruit. But the juice that we got was excellent-- less tannic than Guman usually is, softer and more floral. The fermenting wine smelled like Moscato d'Asti. The wine fermented and aged in 30 gallon barrels, 50% new and the rest quite fresh, half the size of our standard barrels, to expose the wine to more air than a standard barrel would. In spite of this exposure, the wine is young and juicy. It has some sherry-like characteristics because of its typical surface yeast, but is much more honeyed and fat than the more saline 2005 Guman Nereides. It is surprisngly fresh and fat for a wine that has seen so much oxygen . . . . But still very little fruit remains: the wine in its richness recalls bacon fat and dried porcini . . . .

Because there is so little wine this year, we decided to spring for special labels-- gold engraved, to reflect the dense golden color of the wine.
56 cs