2021 RZN Chenin Blanc Special Edition (SE)

2021 Chenin Blanc Special Edition (SE) Tres Hermanas Vineyard Santa Barbara County Alc. 11.0 % by vol. The Vintage: Overall we saw a cool and longer growing season than last vintage, which ran until early October. With the cooler overall temps for the region the grapes got to hang for an extra 3 weeks compared to 2020. But still very little rain gave us a little more concentration of the fruit.  The Process: The grapes were hand harvested at night and brought to the winery in the early morning. We dump the fruit into the bladder press and run the press cycle for about 3 hours. The pressed juice is pumped directly to a steel tank and settles for two days. It is racked to neutral French oak barrels for fermentation. We let the juice naturally ferment over the course of 5-6 weeks. Around the three week mark, we consolidate the four barrels down to three. From here we top every two weeks and let the wine evolve. After 4 months, we add a small amount of Sulfur to freeze the Chenin in time.