Marimar Estate La Masia Chardonnay

Description

Marimar Estate La Masia Chardonnay is made from 100% Chardonnay grapes from Marimar Torres’ Don Miguel Vineyard in the Russian River.

The owner of  Marimar Estate is Marimar Torres, the sister of Miguel Torres, patriarch and CEO of the world-famous Torres Wine company in Spain. Marimar Torres began planting vines in 1986 and it is the only Californian vineyards to be planted in the European style – there is high-density planting and the vines are planted on a southwest-facing vertical training system. The grafts are Phylloxera resistant and the planting density is 5000 vines per hectare, which is about four times more than the traditional Californian planting density. These characteristics favour competition among plants and roots, reducing yield in the plants. The vines live for longer in this way and develop more intense and elegant aromas, greater concentration of flavours and more balance. The winery was completed in 1992 and sits on a hill surrounded by the estate vineyards. The winery concentrates mainly on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but in a nod to Marimar’s Spanish roots, a Tempranillo and an Albarino have recently been added to the portfolio.

The grapes for this wine come from The Don Miguel vineyard, an 81 acre vineyard with a cool microclimate which is located in the Southwest corner of the Russian River Valley, in the Green Valley sub-appellation of Sonoma County, the coolest, foggiest region of the Russian River Valley, only ten miles from the Pacific. It is farmed organically and biodynamically. The vineyard is planted with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Albarino, Syrah and Tempranillo. There are 30 acres of Chardonnay which are the See, Rued and Spring Mountain clones. The soils are sandy loam, light and well drained (Goldridge series), of volcanic origin and marine sediment.

After harvest, the grapes for Marimar Estate La Masia Chardonnay are gently whole-cluster pressed and barrel fermented in premium French oak barrels (33% new) coopered by Damy from the forest of Allier and Mercurey from the centre of France. The wine undergoes 100% malolactic fermentation and the wine is then aged on its lees in the same barrels for 9 months. The blend of Chardonnay clones in the 2020 vintage is 45% Rued, 34% See, and 21% Spring Mountain