2017 Barden Chardonnay

About 2017 Barden Chardonnay:

Barden Chardonnay is formed so as to touch the heart, mind, body and soul. It’s wrapped in a cloak of mystery, lightly adorned and respected. Drink up to 2036.

Tasting Notes:

Color: Straw gold with emerald and yellow hues.
Aroma: Complex fruit, oak and floral plantain aromas with hints of toast, vanilla and honey.
Palate: Lemon curd, tropical fruits, with creamy textures balanced with earthiness, white pear. Crisp acidity and soft tannins. Rich and expansive with a long finish.

Barrel Selection:

Aged 10 months sur lie in 60% new French oak barriques and 40% in one-year old barriques from and François Frères, Ermitage and Quintessence

Growing Notes:

Grapes sourced from: Sta. Rita Hills – La Rinconada Vineyard clones 76 & 96 (47%), La Encantada Vineyard clone 76 & 15 (20%), Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Wente clone (13%), John Sebastiano Vineyard clone 4 (13%) and Donnachadh Vineyard clone 76 (7%).

Another very early harvest beginning August 3rd. Heat waves perpetuated picking, otherwise summer was consistently mild. Theoretically 2017 marked the official end of California’s five-year drought; it did not end it in Santa Barbara County. The wetter winter did have the effect of percolating soils and reducing the salts in some of the vineyards. Clear skies and warm spring weather allowed for consistent flowering overall, with average to below average yields. The vineyard enjoyed fairly even ripening and picking was rhythmic.

Harvest Dates: August 31st – September 7th, 2017

Winemaking Notes:

Picked for opulent flavors, barrel fermented in 55-degree winery, full malolactic fermentation and battonaged for 4 months.
Maturation: Aged 10 months sur lie in 60% new French oak barriques and 40% in one-year old barriques from and François Frères, Ermitage and Quintessence

About The Winery:

Doug Margerum has been involved in the Santa Barbara food and wine scene for over 35 years. Upon graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1981, his family purchased WINE CASK. In 1994 the WINE CASK became one of 74 restaurants in the world to earn the Wine Spectator Grand Award. Doug sold the WINE CASK in 2007.

Doug launched the Santa Barbara WINE CASK Futures Program in 1984, which elevated the exposure nationally of Santa Barbara Wine Country. From 1986 to 1998, Doug owned VITA NOVA winery with Bob Lindquist (Qupé) and Jim Clendenen (Au Bon Climat).  In 2001, Margerum Wine Company began in a tiny 240 square foot cold room behind Brander Vineyards. The philosophy: return wine making to its previous form of production – handcrafted and personal.

Margerum Wine Company produces limited quantities of wines made from grapes grown both our Estate Vineyard and grapes purchased from other top vineyards from in and around Santa Barbara County. The 18 acre Estate Vineyard is planted exclusively to Rhône grape varietals. The acreage is divided between limestone hillsides and gravelly alluvial flatlands along Alamo Pintado Creek. The wines are now made at their state-of-the-art winery located on Industrial Way in Buellton. Margerum carefully selects the vineyards with meticulous attention to detail in all factors influencing the ultimate quality of the wines, including pruning, soil, climate, and farming methods.

Margerum primarily produces M5 (a Rhône varietal red blend), single vineyard Syrahs, a co-fermented Syrah called ÜBER, SYBARITE Sauvignon Blanc, M5 White (a blend of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, and Picpoul Blanc) and RIVIERA Rose. Doug works with the top vineyards from the cool, eastern end of the valley in Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara to the cold vineyards of Sta. Rita Hills towards the western end of the valley.

In 2014, Margerum released BARDEN wines – an exploration of cold climate grapes grown in and around the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. BARDEN is Doug’s middle name and its English meaning is “Lives near the boar’s den”… thusly they have adorned the label with an image of the wild boar that is pervasive in the area’s vineyards.

Doug’s unique background with retail wine sales, as the sommelier/owner of a Grand Award restaurant and as a wine maker made him sought out by a variety of wineries to assist in the formation of their brands.  Doug has consulted for Chêne Bleu super Rhône wines in France, and continues to consult for Happy Canyon Vineyards, and Robert Lieff’s Tipping Tree wines in the Los Olivos District, all in Santa Barbara County, as well as the Santa Barbara wines of Paradise Springs Winery based in Virginia.