2006 Double L Vineyard Hat Trick Chardonnay

Hat Trick is from the three best, small lots from Morgan Winery's organically farmed Double L Vineyard.

The Vineyard and the Grapes
is located in the northern end of the Santa Lucia Highlands sub-appellation of Monterey, which runs down the northeast facing slopes of the coastal Santa Lucia range, overlooking the Salinas Valley, beginning about 12 miles south of the Monterey Bay. It is named "DoubleLuck" for Dan and Donna Lee's twin daughters. The vineyard was initially planted in 1997 & 1998 with 6 x 5 spacing, resulting in1452 plants per acre. The rows are aligned on a N-S axis for optimum sun exposure and interception of cool breezes from the Monterey Bay. The strong Salinas Valley winds concentrate flavors by thickening grape skins and slowing down photosynthesis. Grapes typically get 4-5 weeks longer hang time than most California regions.
Organically grown fruit produces the clearest expression of terroir. Monterey County Certified Organic, accredited by the USDA, certifies Double L Vineyard as an organically farmed vineyard, the only such one in the appellation. The vineyard has 18 acres of Chardonnay planted with six different clonal selections on five different rootstocks. Soils are sandy loam, deep and well drained, with decomposed granite and traces of limestone. Rainfall averages 15 inches per year. This area's average summertime high of 75 degrees is one of the coolest wine grape growing regions in America during the growing season. Yields are held to under 5 lbs. per vine for maximum flavor concentration.

The Vintage
The 2006 vintage started late and ran about a month later than normal, due to a cold, wet spring that delayed the fruit set. The summer weather was typical for the region. The Chardonnay harvest ran from 10/6 to 11/10, with average croploads, intensely flavored fruit with good acidity.

Vinification and Aging
After whole cluster pressing, the wine is all barrel fermented in 33% new Burgundy barrels using Montrachet (70%) and D254 (30%) yeasts. The newbarrels were Doreau, the one-year old barrels were Francois Freres. It is aged ten months on the lees with weekly stirrings through the 6-week long malo-lacticfermentation, with bottling in August of 2007. Fifty percent of the wine underwent M-L fermentation. Primary contributors are Dijon clones 95 (70%), 76, 96, and a bit of Martini clone 4.

Aromas, Flavors, & Palate Impressions
Nose: walnuts, butterscotch, dried bananas, fig, pear, orange blossoms, vanilla, minerals, smoky oak, mango, violets, green apple; Palate: crisp, lemon-zest, vanilla, nutty, toasty oak, grapefruit, honeydew melon, apricot, flinty, creaminess.