2019’s growing-degree day total of close to 2300 misleads our expectation of the wines and highlights the difficulties of using it to describe this year from that. (For comparison the 2016 and 2017 vintages were 15% warmer than the 30y average and just below 2600.) The last vintage that was in this range was 2012. The wines are richly hued and densely packed with concentration. If it weren’t for the wines’ brimming acid you’d definitely expect them to be from a very warm vintage.

The seventh vintage of Juliette Chardonnay is another knockout. After primary and malolactic fermentation, just four barrels were selected for added age in the caves where they sat on the lees for an additional eight months, gaining complexity and texture. Of those four barrels, only three were bottled. Mineral and bright with acidity, layered with flavors of lemon curd and hints of nuts.