VINEYARD

The block chosen for this Single Vineyard is named “C4,” and was planted to Chardonnay exclusively in 1995, using Dijon clone 96 over 3309 rootstock. Newton has worked with Beckstoffer fruit for the past 15 years, featuring their grapes in our Unfiltered Chardonnay. In 2017, Newton decided to bottle the wine produced on this site as single vineyard to showcase the site’s unique character and quality. The location is situated 1500 ft from the water of the San Pablo Bay.

VINTAGE CONDITIONS

A mild and dry winter, with almost no recorded rainfall in February preceded the start to the 2020 growing season. As a result, we saw budbreak in many of our blocks much earlier than usual towards the end of February and leading into the first few weeks of March. Moderate spring weather, with a few scattered storm events in May helped to set-up a good start to the vegetative cycle of the vines and gave us optimism that we would be able to produce some great wines in 2020. The team continued to carefully tend to the vines under extensive safety protocols due to the COVID pandemic and the summer months brought classically cool nights and warm days.

VINIFICATION

The winemaking is classically simple, something that is true for all Newton Chardonnays. Once the fruit reaches optimal maturity, it is hand-harvested at night, and whole-bunch pressed. The must is then transferred to oak barrels (30% of which are new French oak), where the cloudy juice undergoes natural fermentation. 50% of the wine goes through a secondary malolactic fermentation, while the rest retains the natural malic acid, which preserves and sustains the Chardonnay’s distinct fresh and bright qualities. Regular barrel stirring prevents oxidation, while building aromatic and textural complexity