In working with the Scottsdale Vineyard Chardonnay, we took a completely different approach than we use to create our classic Home Ranch Chardonnay. For both grapes, we hand harvest in the early morning, but instead of going whole cluster, direct to press, we de-stemmed the Scottsdale Chardonnay fruit and allowed the berries to soak in juice before pressing. This retained more natural fruit and structure from the skins. Grapes were pressed and juice was fermented cold in stainless steel tanks for a period, then transferred to neutral French oak barrels to finish primary fermentation. There is no secondary malolactic fermentation in our Scottsdale Chardonnay and the wine is not stirred. No new oak is used with an end goal of showcasing the grape itself, relying more on the intrinsic qualities of this specific vineyard and the Chardonnay grape characteristics, with less emphasis on the winemaking process. In this style, we were able to capture more of the Chardonnay’s bright fruit, minerality and citrus zest for a completely new take on Harney Lane Chardonnay.