2011 J. Lohr October Night Chardonnay

It has become a consistent vintage trend in the last decade that weather tends to come in pairs. In other words, we usually have back to back vintages in Monterey County with similar characteristics. 2011 was another very cool vintage akin to 2010 with a slightly colder winter and early spring. Although the heat summation days in 2011 were greater by a mere 43 (2089 in 2011 versus 2046 in 2010), the vintage was actually even colder and later. Additionally, the cool spring and cold, cloudy weather adversely impacted set in 2011 and resulted in a twenty percent reduction in yields. This proved beneficial, however, as the lighter crop hastened ripening in this challengingly cool year. We have two blocks of Clone 809 Chardonnay, but over the last two vintages we have focused our October Night production on our oldest planting (2001), a 5.5 acre block in the southwest corner of the vineyard. It is the most wind-protected area of the vineyard and the flavors are the most distinctive. Despite the challenges of 2011, ripeness did finally come on October 19th at 24.5° Brix, 0.80 g/100ml of acidity and a soft 3.45 pH.
—Jeff Meier, winemaker