Ingrid’s Vineyard is planted directly in front of Bernardus Lodge in the beautiful Carmel Valley. The vineyard is split into two equal parts. 3 ½ acres are planted to Chardonnay with Dijon clones 76 and 95, while the other 3 ½ acres are planted to a variety of Pinot Noir clones. This site has proven to be superb for these cool climate varietals with its sunny, but cool location and its deep, well-drained soils.

2015 was one more in a series of warm, dry summers and a dry, mild autumn which provided us with excellent quality grapes. As usual, our Vineyard Manager Matt Shea insured meticulous vineyard management which provided us with excellent quality fruit.

At Bernardus, we ferment and age our Chardonnays in the Burgundian tradition. The grapes are hand picked and sorted before being very gently whole-cluster pressed to insure the finest quality. We then transfer the juice to small French barrels for fermentation. Each barrel is hand stirred every two weeks to enhance richness and complexity. All our Chardonnays go through a complete malo-lactic fermentation before final blending and bottling.

Picking date:

September 28th, 2015.

Cooperage:

40% new; Sirugue, Billon and Dargaud & Jaegle.

Bottling:

August 26th, 2016.

224 cases. (750 mls.)