The Wonderland Project 2022 'The White Queen' Chardonnay, Sonoma County

Vintage Notes: A warm winter with below-average rainfall and a cool start to spring kept the vines dormant late into March. Spring remained cool and brought moderate amounts of rain all the way to Memorial Day, keeping shoot growth fairly slow until early June. Mild summer weather contributed to slow fruit development until warmer August temperatures prevailed, pushing grapes to maturity quickly. Chardonnay was harvested on August 25th and September 5th 2023; our earliest Chardonnay harvest yet given the heat spells that occurred starting mid-August.

Vineyard Notes: 70% of the Chardonnay comes from Hicks Vineyard. The Hicks vineyard was planted in 1990 all to Robert Young clone on 110R rootstock. The vineyard is trained on a quadrilateral cordon and a California sprawl trellis system providing ideal dappled lighting on the grapes. The soil profile is Manzanita series consisting of very deep, well drained soils formed in alluvium from mixed rock sources. The soil texture is a gravely fine-loam.

30% of the Chardonnay comes from the Kiser Vineyard. Originally planted in the 1970s, the Sangiacomo family took over the vineyard in 1987. Kiser has 170 acres planted and is set on a rolling slope with Zamora and Huichi- ca soils. There is a mix of different old Wente and Dijon clones planted.

All the vineyards are sustainably farmed without the use of herbicides.

Winemaking Notes: Whole cluster pressed and then cold-settled for 48 hours. Racked to stainless steel and fermented for 21 days. Aged on lees for 5 months prior to bottling. The wine undergoes partial malolactic fermentation and aging takes place in stainless steel.

Tasting Notes: D'anjou pear, honeysuckle and lemon zest