Just over ½ of the fruit came from the John Muir Hanna Vineyard, one of the vineyard sources for the famed 1973 vintage of Chateau Montelena. 40% of the vineyard is a clonal selection from Swanson Vyds and the remainder is clone 17 from Robert Young Vineyards. Both are selections from Wente. Orchard Vineyards is a mix of the original JMH selection, Swanson, and clone 4. Both vineyards are owned and farmed by the Hanna Family. They are at the base of the foothills northwest of Napa and receive significant maritime influence, which helps extend the growing season.

The fruit was picked before sunrise and was pressed without destemming or crushing. The juice was chilled to 50º and allowed to settle for two days. It was then racked to a new tank and inoculated with yeast. The temperature was adjusted to maintain a brix drop of approximately 1º per day. Fermentation was complete by October 26. It was racked to barrels on November 9.

The wine was aged for six ½ months in French oak barrels from the Allier forest (10% were new) and a few neutral American oak barrels. It was topped every two weeks during the barrel aging, then racked to one tank on May 25, 2007. It was heat and cold stabilized, filtered and then bottled on July 3. The wine was bottle aged for 13 months before release. 567 cases were produced.

The 2006 Muir’s Legacy Chardonnay is a pure and elegant expression of the varietal characteristics typical of older Burgundy clones grown in the Oak Knoll District of the Napa Valley. It is medium to full bodied and well-balanced. It exhibits notes of tropical fruit, melon, apple and pear, all tied together by a subtle touch of oak. The wine can be paired very effectively with pork, chicken or game birds, salmon, Asian dishes, flavorful cheeses and fresh fruit.