Far Mountain, `Myrna` Sonoma Valley Chardonnay

Far Mountain was founded by winemaker Rodrigo Soto and his wife Mai Errazuriz in 2018. Having spent decades working for leading wineries across the Americas, the couple established this project believing that the best potential for wine in California lay in remote pockets of the Sonoma Valley mountains. With this philosophy in mind, they sought out exceptional vineyards and launched their first release, the 2019 vintage, to international acclaim.

The Myrna Chardonnay comes from the Bald Mountain Vineyard, a unique site nestled into the second-highest peak in the Mayacamas mountains, at around 550 metres above sea level. Planted in 1972, the vines lie in a cool bowl at the bottom of the site and, unusually, are planted with heritage California clones and rootstock. They are dry-farmed, which allows the vines to thrive in poor, fractured soils and results in a distinct saline character in the wine. This fruit is supplemented by a small parcel of thirty-year-old vines from Thornton vineyard, at the foot of Sonoma Mountain. This lends a precise acidity to the wine from the more ocean-influenced climate. The Fission Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from the Alta Vista vineyard, high up in the Moon Mountain District AVA, at 300 metres above sea level in the Sonoma Valley. The vines are fifty years old and have never been irrigated, both rare qualities in California, and continue to produce exceptional fruit at twice the age that most vines in California need to be replanted. This is helped by deep 20 - 40 feet root systems, the volcanic bedrock of decomposed granite on which the vines lie and the cooling, high-elevation breezes. This combination lends the Cabernet Sauvignon a defined structure with an elegant, graphite-mineral profile.

Rodrigo and Mai seek to capture the truest expression of these vineyards in the cellar, by using low-intervention winemaking and minimal new oak. The Chardonnay is whole cluster pressed before settling for 24 - 36 hours. The must is then fermented and aged in barrels for 12 months, 18% of which are new, with one, two, three and four-year-old barrels making up the rest. Only 30% of the wine undergoes malolactic fermentation to retain freshness, and frequent lees-stirring is used early in the ageing period to add texture. The Myrna Chardonnay showcases the mineral depth of the Bald Mountain site, with layers of precise yellow fruit and spice lifted by a saline freshness.

The Cabernet Sauvignon is handled gently and destemmed to keep the berries whole. This approach is dictated by the Alta Vista vineyard which has numerous expositions and different mutations of Cabernet Sauvignon. To ensure these complexities are accentuated, open-top fermenters are used with limited punch downs and pump overs so as not to force extraction. The wine matures in barrels, of which 27% are new and the remainder are one, two and three years old. The resulting wine is earthy and fragrant with a core of expressive blackberry fruit and refined tannins.