2015 Demuth Vineyard Chardonnay, Anderson Valley Magnum

The early bud-break, freakishly low yields, and warm growing season produced a Demuth unlike any we've ever seen. This 2015 is a supersized version of itself with almost 2 points of alcohol higher than "normal" years. What makes the wine work, in keeping with the character of the 2015 vintage, is the exceedingly high acidity. The fruit was hanging with such high TA that despite the fact that it was flavor ripe, we had to wait it out for acid levels to fall. This almost never happens in California—usually it's just the opposite where you are waiting for flavors and hoping your acids don't crash. End result: a dense, powerful Demuth built for the cellar.

AROMA

mustard seed, quartz, tangerine oil

FLAVOR

white peach pit, sunflower seed, quinine

FOOD PAIRINGS

sweet shrimp, latkehs, boudin blanc