Grapes for this, our first attempt at this style of wine, were carefully monitored through three separate storms before we elected to pick seven weeks following our first Chardonnay harvest!  The grapes were treated with enzymes in the picking bins prior to destemming and gentle crushing to facilitate extraction of juice during the pressing process.  The juice was cold settled for six days and racked off the gross lees to a closed top stainless steel fermented.  Following the addition of nutrients and yeast, the juice was kept very cool (46-52 degrees F.).  As a result of this treatment fermentation was very slow to start; and the wine fermented sluggishly for three weeks until, after repeated tasting of the must, we elected to stop the fermentation by chilling the wine in place.  After three weeks the chilled wine was racked to a stainless steel storage tank.  Fining agents to facilitate heat- and color stability were added to the wine at this time; and the wine was held at 32 degrees F. to promote cold stability as well.  The wine was cold pad-filtered through two successive pore sizes of 1 micron and 0.4 micron, respectively prior to final bottling in late February and early March. We are proud of our efforts -- this is a luscious wine, an enophile's answer to "Death by Chocolate" or, for that matter, the most decadent cheesecake you've ever enjoyed!

Aroma: D'anjou Pear, Quince, Honeysuckle "Tropical" Orange blossom

Taste: Honeyed Pear, White Peach, mandarin Orange

Food Pairings: Cheesecakes, Cream Brule and all sweet desserts