2022 My Sister Charlie Chardonnay

Sitting on the Russian River Valley side of Bell Mountain, our Chardonnay vines are a mix of Old Wente and See’s clones that give us tremendous flexibility in the cellar. We select the best barrels to go into our signature Chardonnay. Starting with the 2020 vintage, we’ve renamed the wine to incorporate the next generation into our story. When Chris and Bradley’s middle son would play at Bell Mountain, he wished he had a sister to be his ally in a house full of boys. Since none existed, he made one up and referred to his imaginary playmate as “My Sister Charlie”. Playing among the vines allowed him to showcase his ingenuity and spirit of adventure, the values on which Medlock Ames is founded. 

This is one of our most exciting chardonnays ever produced, coming from a vintage of extremes. What immediately jumps out of the glass is intense aromas of green apple, ripe pear, and white blossom wrapped in creamy vanilla swirl. Sip after sip, this wine continues to delight as it coats the mouth with flavors of peach galette and lemon curd with a silky acidity that keeps it fresh. 

Vintage

The 2022 vintage hit records in so many ways. We had several rounds of severe frost including in areas where we normally don’t see frost. We had our latest frost on record during the middle of May which caused a significant crop loss. Nevertheless, we had high hopes for the vintage as we got closer to fall. During September we endured a record heat wave in which we had more than 8 days above 100 degrees with one day topping out at 119 degrees. Thankfully our canopies faired this weather well. 2022 is overdelivering on aromatic intensity, full flavor, and gentle tannins. Everything ripened a little earlier and we finished off the season with the smallest and earliest harvest on record, though we think perhaps some of the tastiest.