Tasting Notes
This single vineyard, 2022 vintage wine is 100 percent barrel-fermented with 20 percent new French oak aged on 100 percent gross lees. On the nose, enticing aromas of calla lily, roasted almond, yellow peach and crushed river stone swirl amid undertones of marzipan and flaky pie crust. The entry is quite fresh and creamy, the result of nine months of intermittent bâtonnage. Subtle minerality frames the crisp green apple and delicate honey notes. Bottled unfiltered, this Chardonnay will drink gracefully over the next 5-8 years.
Winemaker Notes
The debut of our Sonoma Coast Chardonnay showcases the beautiful ripe fruit of California balanced with the elegance and complexity of its Burgundian ancestor. This wine also represents our new partnership with the Sangiacomo family, who are 5th generation grape growers. Steve Sangiacomo and I started competing with each other in sports in second grade and continued through high school. We both went on to play college football. And while we’ve always been “in touch” through the wine business, we recently re-connected through our mutual love of sports and family. Steve has been coaching his son’s basketball team for the past five years, as have I. It’s been really special to coach “against” each other, and to be able to share our history with our sons. Now, buying grapes from Steve’s family is truly bringing our relationship full circle.
Production 229 cases
About Mauritson Family Cellars
Since 1868, the Mauritson family has been growing grapes in the Dry Creek Valley. Our great-great-great grandfather S.P. Hallengren, a grape growing pioneer in the Rockpile region, first planted vines in 1884, shipping every ounce of his wine back to Sweden. Our family’s Rockpile homestead and ranch grew to 4,000 acres by the early 1960s when all but 700 ridgetop acres was acquired by the Army Corps of Engineers in order to develop Lake Sonoma. The vineyards shown in many of our historical family photos are now under water! For the next 30 years, the Rockpile property would serve mostly for sheep grazing.
Our family farming operation moved first to Alexander Valley, then expanded into the benchland of Dry Creek Valley, where we delivered superior fruit for regional winemakers to work with year after year. Still do! Our family currently manages 310 vineyards acres spread across Dry Creek Valley, Alexander Valley and Rockpile Appellations.
In the mid 1990s, Clay Mauritson returned from college with an unexpected longing to get back in the vineyards. This time, though, along with pruning and picking, Clay was determined to add winemaking to the family operation. Honing his winemaking skills and knowledge of winery operations at Kenwood, Taft Street and Dry Creek Vineyards, Clay was ready in 1998 to release the inaugural Mauritson Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel. Clay’s wife Carrie soon joined him, leading our marketing and operations support.
Soon after that inaugural release, we took a fresh look at the potential for superior grape growing in the Rockpile region and planted 34 acres to vineyards in eight distinct blocks. The combination of low air moisture, poor soils and moderate temperatures was starting to turn heads. Our family farming operation had come full circle — and then some!
Six generations and more than150 years later, we’re earning a reputation for outstanding winemaking along with our sought-after harvests
