About Fogarty
Few wine regions on earth can match Santa Cruz Mountains’ climates, soils and vertigo-inspiring views. Set high in the mountains overlooking California’s Silicon Valley, the Thomas Fogarty winery has been making single-vineyard Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet from the SCM appellation since 1981. Fogarty’s two estates are divided into micro-vineyards, ranging from .25 to 5.25 acres, based on soil and topography. All are maritime (12-18 miles to Pacific), cool-climate (Regions I and II), high-elevation (1600-2300 feet), low yielding (1-3 tons per acre) and mountainous. The winery was founded by Dr. Thomas Fogarty, a Stanford cardiovascular surgeon and world-renowned inventor.

Vintage
2004 was a challenging but highly successful vintage for the Santa Cruz Mountains. A heat spike in early September forced us to re-evaluate our traditional cool-climate viticultural practices. Hard work and patience allowed us to adapt to growing conditions that were more like Napa or Sonoma than Santa Cruz Mountains. Beautiful weather during most of our "ripening zone" led to miniscule yields of intensely flavored fruit.

Vineyards
The '04 SCM Chardonnay is assembled from various individually fermented lots. Our Chardonnay is exclusively sourced from high elevation, maritime vineyards. This blend includes wine from all of our Fogarty Estate micro-vineyards, as well as the Camel Hill and Gist Ranch vineyards located above Los Gatos, CA.

Winemaking
All of the individual lots were whole-cluster pressed and fermented and aged in 15% new French oak. The lees were stirred once a week for the 14 months the wine spent in oak. 50% of the wine had its malo-lactic fermentation blocked to preserve freshness and acidity. The wine was racked to tank with its gross lees for
an additional month of tank age prior to being bottled.

Tasting Notes
Our 2004 SCM Chardonnay is loaded with tropical fruit, lemon oil and brioche. Open, forward, exuberant, it is one of the lushest Chards we have ever produced.

TECHNICAL DATA:

Appellation
Santa Cruz Mountains

WINEMAKER
Michael Martella

VINEYARDS
56% Portola Springs Estate, 21% Camel Hill, 17% Damiana Estate,
3% Langley Hill Estate, 2% Gist Ranch Estate, 1% Albutom Estate

COMPOSITION: 100% Chardonnay

Distance to ocean: Average 12 miles
Elevation: Average 1750 feet
Finished alcohol: 14.5% ABV
Acid/pH: .83/3.42
Oak treament: 15% New French Oak, 14 months
Total production: 550 cases
Release date: ???
California suggested retail: $28.00