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 & Vineyards
2006 featured one of the longest growing seasons in recent memory. Fantastic weather during bloom left us with a real crop on the vines, something quite different than 2005. The longer cool growing season was ideal for producing lovely aromatics and silky textures, real hallmarks for us in 2006. The vintage yielded wines that, while pure and translucent, were slightly off the mark for our single-site Pinot Noir program. As a result, our Santa Cruz Mountain bottling was the fortunate beneficiary of our decision to include all of block and vineyard designated wines!

Winemaking
This special bottling of “Skyline Chardonnay” represents a change from the norm for Fogarty Chardonnay. We eschewed the use of any form of oak in producing this wine, instead preferring to focus on the crisp, clean and fresh characters that are present.
Some have called it naked, “un”-oaked, virgin, etc., to differentiate it from the more traditional style of barrel fermentation and aging. The grapes for this particular bottling hail from our Estate Vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The various lots were harvested at optimal maturity in late October and immediately whole-cluster pressed to stainless steel tanks. We inoculated the must with two different Chardonnay yeasts without any racking or settling. The ensuing fermentation was cold (about 55 degrees) and fairly long (almost two months). The wine sat on its gross lees for another month without any sulfur. A minute amount of malic acid was converted during this lees contact period but the wine was sulfured and racked before malo-lactic fermentation could really commence. We stabilized the wine for early bottling to ensure the conservation of the bright citrus and mineral flavors.

Tasting Notes
The flavors center on bright clean citrus and pineapple fruit. Then there is the ever present Santa Cruz Mountain acidity that really drives the minerality and ‘steeliness’ that defines this wine. The acidity is well balanced; this is not a tart wine. It simply is clean and refreshing and perfect for consumption over the summer and fall.

TECHNICAL DATA:

Appellation
California

WINEMAKER
Michael Martella

VINEYARDS
100% Estate Santa Cruz Mountains

COMPOSITION: 100% Chardonnay

Finished alcohol: 13.8% ABV
Acid/pH: .688/3.52
Total production: 1500 cases
Release date: June 17, 2007
California suggested retail: $15.25