Winemaking
Talley Vineyards is committed to the primacy of terroir in the wines we produce, and every step taken from vine to bottle reflects this approach. Traditional Burgundian methods are employed in the cellar to produce expressive and complex wines that best reflect their vineyard origins.
The chardonnay is cluster sorted and whole cluster pressed. The juice is only minimally settled in tank and then racked into medium-heavy toasted French oak barrels from the Allier and Vosges forests. The level of new oak used depends on the wine, but generally ranges between 25% and 35%. All of the wine is barrel fermented with various cultured yeast strains as well as native yeasts. Maximum fermentation temperatures are cool and range from 68°-74°F to preserve the natural fruit characteristics of the wine. As is traditional in Burgundy, all of the wine ages sur lie and undergoes malolactic fermentation to soften the natural acidity while adding richness and complexity to the finished wine. The Estate and Oliver's Vineyard chardonnays are typically bottled after 11 months in barrel, while the Rincon Vineyard and Rosemary's Vineyard wines age 14-16 months in barrel.
After cluster sorting, the pinot noir is predominantly destemmed, though 25% whole clusters are maintained in vineyard blocks that achieve good stem lignification. Destemmed grapes are berry sorted before they are gravity fed into small open top fermenters. Before fermentation, the must undergoes a "cold soak" of three to five days to extract color, aroma, and flavor. Only native yeasts ferment the pinot noir, with the objective being a long, slow fermentation. Maximum fermentation temperatures range from 85°-92° F. After a cuvaison of about ten days, the wine is racked, with minimal settling, into medium-heavy toasted Allier and Vosges barrels where it ages for 15-18 months before bottling. Generally 30-40% of the barrels are new.
Bottling and the period just before are also crucial to the quality of Talley Vineyards' wines. Before bottling, all of the chardonnay and pinot noir barrels are tasted individually. Any barrels not meeting the Talley Family's stringent quality standards are kept out of the final blend. The wines are then gently bottled, generally without filtration, using state-of-the-art bottling equipment.
Talley Vineyards is committed to the primacy of terroir in its wines, and every step taken from vine to bottle is reflective of this approach. It is this commitment that results in a consistency of quality from vintage to vintage which is the hallmark of a great winegrowing estate.