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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2022 and 2025 (based on 32 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 1 note) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by isaacjamesbaker on 7/26/2023 & rated 91 points: Deep yellow color. The nose exudes ripe yellow plums and pears, mixed with cinnamon, biscuits and honey, some graham cracker, and the richer tones are balanced with these limestone and crushed rock tones. Rich texture but the acidity is crisp and the balance is on point. Yellow apples, lemon curd, orange peel, the fruit is backed up by nuances of graham cracker, peanut shell, honeycomb, honeyed tea. Underneath, there are these flinty, mineral essences that finish clean and add a lot of complexity and enjoyment. (358 views) |
| Bouchaine Producer Website
Bouchaine is the oldest continuously operating winery in the Carneros District – a winery that began making wine long before the region earned its reputation for producing the great Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays of Carneros today. In fact, the roots of Bouchaine go back to a previous era – a glorious time for wine in the Napa Valley, long before Prohibition.
The land was first owned by a Missouri native with the rather remarkable name of Boon Fly. Fly grew grapes and fruit trees on the property in the late 1880s. A treasured auction flier from May 14, 1887 advertises the sale of some of the 900 acres of the Fly property. In touting the land’s promise for grape growing, it notes that a buyer could plant a vineyard for the modest sum of under $40 an acre.
In 1929, an Italian winemaker named Johnny Garetto purchased the parcel that is today’s Bouchaine. Beringer Winery subsequently bought the estate from Garetto in 1951 and used it as a storage and blending facility until 1981, when a partnership that included the current owners, Gerret and Tatiana Copeland, purchased the winery and surrounding vineyards. At the time, only a few winemaking pioneers realized the potential for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Carneros. And by appearance, this muddy Carneros property, with its derelict aging-cellars and its ramshackle sheds, hardly inspired optimism. In 1991 a major renovation began and the winery was completely rebuilt from top to bottom. Old redwood tanks were deconstructed and re-milled as exterior siding for the winery and offices, while a broad green roof finished the elegant but rustic look. At the same time, the estate vineyards were almost entirely replanted due to damage caused by phylloxera. This allowed the winery to choose a broad spectrum of rootstocks and clones, giving the winemaker a wonderful palette from which to create his wines.
In 1995, additional vineyard property adjoining the winery was purchased, giving Bouchaine more than 100 acres of estate vineyards in Carneros. Famed winery executive and winemaker Michael Richmond also joined Bouchaine as winemaker in 2002. His approach focuses on the grapes themselves, carefully blending the various vineyard blocks to create wines that capture the elegance of Burgundy and the exuberance of Napa.
For the past 27 years, the walls of Bouchaine have witnessed the remarkable development of the Carneros District, from an unknown rustic region of farmland to America’s leading producer of Burgundian varietals.Chardonnay The Chardonnay GrapeEstate VineyardFrom the Producer:
Coury Clone Block: In the spring of 2000 we took over the farming of what is now our Estate Vineyard from Autumn Wind Winery and Vineyard. Even though the purchase of the property and business would not occur until later that year we were entrusted with running the operation as if it were our own already. The vineyard was only around 22 acres at the time with a good deal of plantable land available. There were also areas that needed to be addressed. This block was one of those. This was originally planted in 1985. It is on a very steep facing at the apex of the vineyard’s hillside. The terraces that had been built to account for the hill’s grade were collapsing making tractor work hazardous. On top of that years of soil neglect had created an extremely untenable growing environment for the plants. We decided to tear this section out and start again. At this juncture Dijon clones were quite fashionable (not they are not now, just more so in an outsized sort of way back then) and since the vineyard was solely Pommard and Wadensvil we decided to plant Dijon 777. The decision never panned out. Despite having the Etzel Block to its west, the Wadensvil Block to the north and the Hallelujah Block (the largest portion of the Estate Old Vine) this block never produced wine anywhere near the quality of its neighbors. For 15+ years we saw harvests produce wines that usually were scheduled for our Willamette Valley bottling rather than something more unique and individual. While clonal makeup is not the defining character of terroir it is an aspect and in this case, we felt that aspect was holding things back. In the spring of 2019, we traded some vineyard management expertise for cuttings off our block of Coury Clone at Freedom Hill Vineyard. Given our success there and at Hyland Vineyard with this unique, Oregon-based clone we felt like we could maximize the setting. In one vintage, not counting the smoke taint-befouled 2020 vintage, we found that we were proven correct. More good things to come from this interesting part of our Estate!
Farming Practices: We have done the management of this property internally since we purchased it in 2000 with the exception of 2014 and 2015 when Sterling Fox’s management service did the work. Also, at that time, the vineyard was switched entirely to organic farming practices and remains so to this day. The vineyard has always been dry farmed.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa / SonomaSONOMA: The Yorkville Highlands AVA, approved in 1998, is located in the southwestern corner of Mendocino County, between Sonoma County's Alexander Valley to the South and Mendocino County!s Anderson Valley to the North. The region is 25 miles long, roughly in the shape of rectangle and bisected by Highway 128 which runs the length of the AVA. The region!s terrain is hilly and forested, with elevations ranging from 1,078 to 2,442 feet above sea level.
The distinguishing features of the Yorkville Highlands AVA are rocky soils with a high gravel content and the climate, which is cooler than Alexander Valley but warmer than Anderson Valley, and significantly cooler at night than the surrounding areas.CarnerosStraddles the southern ends of Napa & Sonoma Counties. |
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