Nose

Hailing from Murmur Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley, the 2022 Viognier displays nuanced aromas of jasmine, pear and stone fruits with hints of hazelnut and sea spray.

Palate

A soft, expansive texture unfolds with flashy flavors of lime zest, melon rind and slate. Notes of vanilla spice emerge on a sleek, energetic finish. A vivid cool-climate Viognier that stands out from the crowd.

Growing Conditions

Tooth & Nail owner-winegrower Rob Murray planted Murmur Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley in 2008. Murmur Vineyard occupies an ultra-coastal terroir that lies at the extremes of cool-climate winemaking, just 13 miles from the Pacific Ocean. Here, sunny summer days reach temperatures in the mid 70s before yielding to the marine effect. Temperatures plummet as cooling onshore ocean winds billow into the vineyard, followed by nighttime fog that endures through early morning. The marine lime-sand soils are self-limiting and well drained by nature, with the mature vine roots reaching as deep as 20 feet below ground. These are edgy conditions for Rhône varieties, which Murray planted by design.

The 2.5-acre block of Viognier is situated on a south-facing slope to acquire as much solar exposure as possible. Nevertheless, the growing season remains extremely long, allowing the Viognier to gain a remarkable balance of acidity, complexity and flavor maturity at low sugar levels—the hallmarks of Stasis Viognier.

Harvest

In 2022, the grapes were hand-harvested in the cool morning hours at Murmur Vineyard on October 14.

Winemaking

Stasis wines focus on coastal expressions of both renowned and obscure grape varieties. They pay homage to the Stasis Theory, a truth-seeking discipline first practiced by the great philosophers and orators of ancient Greece. Between the physical and metaphysical, there is Stasis—a balanced state of being.

The fruit was whole-cluster pressed and the juice was racked directly to 228-liter French oak barriques for fermentation. These once-filled barrels imparted a perfectly subtle oak influence to the wine’s profile.

The wine was matured in these barrels on the heavy lees for eight months with partial malolactic fermentation, bringing added complexity and volume to the mouthfeel.

Aging

8 months in French oak barrels