Nose
Aromas of toasted oak and a slight nuttiness showcasing the vineyard’s unique flavors.
Palate
The palate is rich and full bodied with flavors of baked apple and pear. Notes of apricot and hazelnut linger on the finish. Our richest and most unctuous style from this vineyard.
Growing Conditions
Patrick’s Vineyard is named after owner Bill Foley’s son. It is an exposed, rolling site in lower Carneros, close to San Pablo Bay. The cool, foggy, windy climate and marine soils at Patrick’s are ideal for full-bodied, well-structured Chardonnay. The vineyard is planted to three excellent, low-production clones: #6, #17 (better known as the Robert Young Selection), and #38. The grapes are grown on a divided canopy to increase sun exposure resulting in more “yellow fruit” as opposed to green flavors. This is consistently Sebastiani’s best vineyard for Chardonnay.
Harvest
2015 was a fantastic vintage producing high quality fruit. It began with an earlier than average bud break, and an intense, compacted harvest beginning earlier than average as well. The high temperatures in August and early September accelerated maturity and picking times.
Bottling
Bottling Date January 2017.
Winemaking
After hand picking and whole-cluster pressing, the two different clonal lots were barrel fermented and aged sur lie in French oak (70% new). Aggressive stirring enhanced the aromatics, texture and flavors. We went through an initial barrel selection process to identify superior lots. We then did a second barrel selection to create the best possible final blend. The wine was barrel aged for 16 months prior to bottling.
Aging
16 months sur lie in French oak barrels (70% new).
