2008 Qupé Chardonnay Bien Nacido Reserve – Block Eleven

This wine is 100% chardonnay from Block Eleven at Bien Nacido, a custom hillside block planted exclusively for Qupé in 1997. The grapes were picked in two lots on September 18th and October 1st at an average of23.6° brix, 9.0 acidity and 3.21 pH…as usual amazing numbers! The juice was entirely barrel-fermented in a combination of 60% new and 40% one-year-old Francois Fréres French oak Burgundian barrels. It went through complete malolactic fermentation in the barrel and was aged in the new barrels on the lees for the first year. It was then racked, fined and returned to neutral barrels for an additional 8 months (20 months total barrel time). 2008 was a cool vintage. This wine shows the distinct minerality that Block Eleven gives, along with classic citrus and pear aromas and flavors, complemented nicely by a layer of creamy oak overtones. The extended barrel aging presents this wine nicely already but it could easily go in the cellar for 10-15 years. 835 cases of 750ml and 120 cases of half bottles were bottled without filtration in June 2010.