We pruned severely in the winter of 2012 at Guman. We knew that the bounty of 2011 would sap the plants, and we wanted to make sure that we did not ask too much of the old vines in the next year. We were equally severe in shoot-thinning, and all of our work paid off. By the time w were inspecting the clusters for balance and ripeness, everything in the vineyard was perfect. When we green-thinned, we dropped about 6 clusters on the ground. For the whole vineyard. In the end, we made 49 cases, half of what we made in 2011.

This old-vine Chardonnay vineyard is the crown jewel of the Project. The wines are long and complex and embody nobility in a way that one recognizes instantly and clearly. The 2012 wine is especially complex, but also in some ways more tame, less extreme, than some other versions. There was less influence of flor; the wine still seems more like Jura than Napa, but is clearly classical Chardonnay.