Catch & Release "Fair Trade" Chardonnay 2023

Electric acidity drives the palate from start to finish, while full malolactic conversion and gentle micro-oxygenation from the neutral oak lend depth and breadth. The wine ultimately stakes its claim in the lemon-zest, saline, briny-acid camp. At just 11.8% alcohol and with zero new oak, it stands well apart from classic California Chardonnay, yet it pulls no punches when it comes to sheer drinkability.

Grapes sourced from certified organic Haiku Vineyard, located off River Road in Mendocino, California. Fermented spontaneously using low-intervention. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Catch & Release Wines is a low-intervention California winery founded in 2019 in Sonoma County by husband-and-wife team Beno and Monica Stewart Varriale. They make wines they like to drink in partnership with growers at the forefront of organic or biodynamic and regenerative farming. They bottle some playful stuff and some serious stuff, but the baseline remains the same - native ferments, neutral wood, minimal S02 and bottled unfiltered.