Shooting Star Chardonnay Santa Barbara 2007

Vineyards        

The area around the Santa Ynez Valley near Santa Barbara has a maritime climate with lots of morning fog in the summer and cool evenings. We get grapes from Bien Nacido whose vineyards are on benches above the Sisquoc River and from the Goodchild Vineyard, which lies across the river. Both of these vineyards add a tropical fruit aroma, with flavors that are reminiscent of mango and papaya.

Winemaking    

The style of the wine is different from previous bottlings as we were able to ferment all of the wine in oak barrels. Most of the new barrels went into the Steele Cuvée and single vineyard Goodchild bottling. The remaining barrels were typically four to five years old with a few new barrels used for flavor and aroma. The wine is still lighter and crisper than the typical Steele Chardonnay bottling and there is the very recognizable Santa Barbara character of tropical fruits such as pineapple, papaya and mango. We continued the trend of including some Pinot Blanc as part of the blend and this year both Bien Nacido and Goodchild vineyards produced Pinot Blanc. The Pinot Blanc gives the wine a crisp character and lends some juicy fruit aromas.