Fog Crest Vineyard Wines

Winemaking Philosophy: At Fog Crest Vineyard, we are striving to emphasize the incredible, unique nature of this small vineyard. Its situation in an amphitheater on the Russian River Valley soils makes it unique in the world. We practice careful viticultural techniques that produce the best fruit possible from our estate vineyard. We then use meticulous winemaking practices that combine the best of old-world tradition with modern winemaking technology and science. We are currently building a modern, small winery that will be designed to maximize the quality and the terroir of our estate vineyard grapes.

Our Chardonnay, for example, is hand-harvested in the early morning hours into ½ ton bins. The grapes are then pressed as whole-clusters and fermented in Burgundian barrels using indigenous yeasts. This results in a long, slow primary yeast fermentation which contributes to more complex and desirable flavor profiles. The secondary malolactic fermentation follows slowly lasting into the spring, some seven months following harvest. During this time, stirring and topping maximizes lees contact and flavor extraction. Each barrel is kept separate throughout fermentation and are evaluated for quality independently. The final blend is typically created by mid-summer, allowing for a long period in barrel for the combining the flavor components from the contributing barrels. The wine is bottled, unfiltered, early in the following year, with more bottle aging prior to release to maximize the texture and mouthfeel.

Russian River Valley
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir