I Brand and Family Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay Escolle Vineyard 2023 Wine Bar | Featured White This cuvée is a blend

This cuvée is a blend of predominantly Pinot Noir with Chardonnay

They are mainly aged in barrels for 6 to 18 months and come in two categories:

Named after Grandfather Peter Lauer

a Merlot-forward profile that gives plush black fruit

and bottle straight off the gross lees

I Brand and Family Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay Escolle Vineyard 2023 Wine Bar | Featured White This cuvée is a blendEscolle sits at the cool northern end of the Santa Lucia Highlands, on a bench that a French immigrant named Honore Escolle bought as a summer property back in 1878. Ian Brand's Chardonnay from it is a study in restraint: whole cluster pressed, barrel fermented with a minority of new French oak, ten months on the lees, then finished in stainless steel to sharpen the edges back up. That last step is the trick. It gives the wine the texture of a barrel