Eberle Winery Chardonnay Estate 2017

Viticulture

A moderately hot summer resulted in excellent canopy growth and uniform cluster development, while a heat spike in the last week of August led to a fast and furious harvest. All of our white varieties were harvested during the first week of September – a record for Eberle Winery. The red grapes were close behind, starting with Zinfandel. Sorting eliminated raisined berries and damaged fruit. Overall, the vintage has turned out to be of stellar quality: all of the wines show good color extraction, excellent balance and well developed flavor profiles.

Vinification

The grapes were hand-harvested, sorted then de-stemmed. The must cold-soaked on the skins for four hours to concentrate flavor and aromatics. The juice was separated into free-run and press fractions, then cold-settled for 48 hours, racked, and inoculated to start fermentation. Half of the wine remained in stainless steel post fermentation, and half ended up in French oak barrels (25% new). We stirred the lots twice a week for eight weeks, then left new wine to age sur lie for six months. Finally, the lots were blended, cold stabilized, filtered and bottled.

Tasting notes

Fruit forward aromatics and balanced flavors of tropical pineapple, Granny Smith apple, lemon and vanilla.

Producer Description

Driving Force Behind the Wine Industry in Paso Robles

Gary Eberle is one of the pioneers of the wine industry in Paso Robles. He was part of a small group of early winemakers that lead the charge to get Paso Robles certified as an appellation, while at the same time establishing his own winery. Gary was fascinated by Syrah, which was not yet planted in California. Based on the seedlings of California State University, Davis owned that had been grown in Chapoutier, Gary began planting clonal lines of Syrah in the field of 20 acres. The wine released in 1978 was the very first 100% Syrah in the United States. Wineries from all around became aware and gradually his new attempt, as a premium wine-producing area of the Rhone-based blend, Paso Robles has established its position today.
"For me, making wine is about elegance. I pay attention to detail. As I like to say, my science background gets me through harvest, but it's my artistic side that helps me in blending and creating beautiful wines." - Ben Mayo, which is also the winemaker. We regard wines as a work in progress never-ending winemaking.