2019 Chenin Blanc JarreChenin Blanc aged in Sandstone

Grown on the Rorick estate vineyard in Calaveras County, on soils comprised of a layer of schist over dolomite-rich limestone. Elevation of the vineyard is 2000’. The combination of limestone, elevation, and the cold nights of the Sierras produce fruit with depth, texture, and brilliant natural acidity; minimal handling in the winery allows for an honest and pure expression of site and variety to shine through. The 2019 Chenin Jarre is a beautiful example of what aging wine in sandstone vessels can produce: aromas of bright citrus and lanolin are laid over a taut framework of acidity; on the palate flavors of Meyer lemon, honeycomb, and crushed stone combine with a saline minerality.

Chenin blanc was planted on our site in the early 1980s by Barden Stevenot but by the time we took over stewardship of the ranch in 2013 it was no longer in the vineyard. With the intention of re-forging a link to this chapter in RHV’s history, we obtained cuttings of Chenin blanc from the Story Vineyard in Amador County, whose vines were planted in the late 1970s. These cuttings reintroduced Chenin blanc to the ranch in the winter of 2014 into Block 1, whose steep slope faces RHV’s largest limestone outcrop.

At vintage, the fruit was hand-picked and given pigeage before pressing. Fermentation occurred in neutral 500L puncheon. The wine was racked off of its lees after a year, at which time the wine went into a 200L Sandstone Jarre. It saw a total of 21 months elevage in Sandstone, and the wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered. The wine remained very stable through the aging process on its own, without SO2, and we decided at bottling to keep it that way: our 2019 Chenin jarre is completely sans soufre.