2021 DIERBERG CHARDONNAY, DRUM CANYON VINEYARD
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Vintage
2021
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Appellation
Sta. Rita Hils
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Varietal
Chardonnay
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Vineyard Designation
Drum Canyon
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Harvest Date
September 2021
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Aging
15 months in 100% 400L French Oak; 35% new
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Bottling Date
December 2022
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Alcohol
14.4%
In Santa Barbara, the 2021 vintage provided a good growing season with ideal ripening weather. Tyler Thomas, winemaker at Dierberg Vineyard, noted cool mornings, ample fog, and no significant heat events. "Weather during the ripening period was about as ideal as you could ask for in Santa Barbara County." The vintage progressed smoothly with yields matching historical averages. Wines are showing excellent flavor depth, lower alcohol levels, and higher acidity. “We are very excited about the ability to promote energy in wines with terrific depth and generosity,” says Thomas.
"With the wines made by Tyler Thomas, Dierberg continues to fashion classic, elegant wines..." Jeb Dunnuck, August 2023
Production Notes
Gently whole-cluster pressed as we have for many years, the settled juice was moved to large 400 liter barrels for fermentation where it stayed for just over a year prior to bottling. 35% of the large oak barrels were new, and the remainder neutral. Drum Canyon Chardonnay always has a higher amount of malic acid, and one must be careful not to perform too much secondary fermentation because the wine can shift from being very fresh to being quite rich as the pH rises during this process. We favor an anaerobic ML that works perfectly to bring out texture from this portion of the Drum Canyon Vineyard without squashing the wine with diacetyl.
WINEMAKER NOTES
Most colleagues I speak with enjoy their 2019s more now than when the vintage initially arrived. The fruit was beautiful, thick skinned, and initially presented a subtle, quiet character that veiled its power and depth. Sensing the inherent structure, we did not include as many stems in the ferment as may be typical because we believed structure was present without any assistance. This proved true as maceration times were also shorter. As the wine aged in nearly 40% new French oak, more and more depth emerged as the wines also remained nimble and refreshing
TASTING NOTES
Most colleagues I speak with enjoy their 2019s more now than when the vintage initially arrived. The fruit was beautiful, thick skinned, and initially presented a subtle, quiet character that veiled its power and depth. Sensing the inherent structure, we did not include as many stems in the ferment as may be typical because we believed structure was present without any assistance. This proved true as maceration times were also shorter. As the wine aged in nearly 40% new French oak, more and more depth emerged as the wines also remained nimble and refreshing
