T. Berkley Wines 'Norgard Vineyard' Chenin Blanc, Mendocino County, California 2023
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T. Berkley Wines was founded in 2016 by Taylor Berkley Boydstun, a winemaker whose career has taken her from the Loire Valley to New Zealand's Central Otago (Felton Road), Australia (Brokenwood), the Wachau in Austria (Weingut Knoll), and California's North Coast (Kosta Browne, Littorai). The label's longer vision was conceived as a treatise on Cabernet Franc — a grape Taylor has spent years studying in the Loire Valley — but the Norgard Vineyard Chenin Blanc has become the project's most celebrated wine. Sourced since the label's first vintage from the same Talmage Bench vineyard that supplies several of California's finest Chenin Blanc producers, T. Berkley's expression is distinguished by the most technically ambitious aging regime of any Norgard producer: a multi-vessel fermentation in concrete egg, French oak puncheons, and stainless steel, followed by 18 months total élevage.
- WINEMAKER: Taylor Berkley Boydstun
- FARMING: Organically farmed (not certified). Norgard Vineyard, Talmage Bench, Mendocino County. Planted 1980. Quadrilaterally trained using the California sprawl trellis system.
- VARIETY: 100% Chenin Blanc
- TERROIR: The Norgard Vineyard sits on the Talmage Bench on the east side of the Russian River in Mendocino County, in the benchlands just outside Ukiah. Vines planted in 1980 grow in silty Mendocino County soils on a gentle north-facing slope — conditions that produce naturally high acidity and restrained fruit weight, ideal for complex, age-worthy Chenin Blanc. The Talmage Bench has been recognized as one of California's most consistent Chenin Blanc sites for decades, and Norgard's old vines — now over 40 years old — are among the most sought-after fruit on the site.
- VINIFICATION: Hand-picked at intentionally lower brix. Native yeast fermentation conducted at low temperature in a combination of concrete egg, French oak puncheons (30% new, DAMY Cooperage), and stainless steel barrels. Some bâtonnage through the end of the harvest calendar year. Extended aging sur lie.
- AGING: 12 months on lees in concrete egg and French oak puncheons, then 6 months in tank off lees. Total élevage 18 months. Minimal SO₂ added only at bottling. 250 cases produced.
- TASTING NOTES: White tea and jasmine flower on the nose — flinty and elegant, shy at first but blooming with air to reveal orange blossom, honeysuckle, and a touch of richness. On the palate, broader and more open than previous vintages, with ripe stone fruit — peach and yellow plum — enveloped by stony minerality and a beautiful pithy texture. The richest and most complex Norgard release T. Berkley has produced to date.
- FOOD PAIRINGS: Grilled fish, oysters, roast pork with herbs, aged hard cheese, cream-sauced poultry.
T. Berkley Wines 'Norgard Vineyard' Chenin Blanc, Mendocino County, California 2023
T. Berkley Wines was founded in 2016 by Taylor Berkley Boydstun, a winemaker whose career has taken her from the Loire Valley to New Zealand's Central Otago (Felton Road), Australia (Brokenwood), the Wachau in Austria (Weingut Knoll), and California's North Coast (Kosta Browne, Littorai). The label's longer vision was conceived as a treatise on Cabernet Franc — a grape Taylor has spent years studying in the Loire Valley — but the Norgard Vineyard Chenin Blanc has become the project's most celebrated wine. Sourced since the label's first vintage from the same Talmage Bench vineyard that supplies several of California's finest Chenin Blanc producers, T. Berkley's expression is distinguished by the most technically ambitious aging regime of any Norgard producer: a multi-vessel fermentation in concrete egg, French oak puncheons, and stainless steel, followed by 18 months total élevage.
- WINEMAKER: Taylor Berkley Boydstun
- FARMING: Organically farmed (not certified). Norgard Vineyard, Talmage Bench, Mendocino County. Planted 1980. Quadrilaterally trained using the California sprawl trellis system.
- VARIETY: 100% Chenin Blanc
- TERROIR: The Norgard Vineyard sits on the Talmage Bench on the east side of the Russian River in Mendocino County, in the benchlands just outside Ukiah. Vines planted in 1980 grow in silty Mendocino County soils on a gentle north-facing slope — conditions that produce naturally high acidity and restrained fruit weight, ideal for complex, age-worthy Chenin Blanc. The Talmage Bench has been recognized as one of California's most consistent Chenin Blanc sites for decades, and Norgard's old vines — now over 40 years old — are among the most sought-after fruit on the site.
- VINIFICATION: Hand-picked at intentionally lower brix. Native yeast fermentation conducted at low temperature in a combination of concrete egg, French oak puncheons (30% new, DAMY Cooperage), and stainless steel barrels. Some bâtonnage through the end of the harvest calendar year. Extended aging sur lie.
- AGING: 12 months on lees in concrete egg and French oak puncheons, then 6 months in tank off lees. Total élevage 18 months. Minimal SO₂ added only at bottling. 250 cases produced.
- TASTING NOTES: White tea and jasmine flower on the nose — flinty and elegant, shy at first but blooming with air to reveal orange blossom, honeysuckle, and a touch of richness. On the palate, broader and more open than previous vintages, with ripe stone fruit — peach and yellow plum — enveloped by stony minerality and a beautiful pithy texture. The richest and most complex Norgard release T. Berkley has produced to date.
- FOOD PAIRINGS: Grilled fish, oysters, roast pork with herbs, aged hard cheese, cream-sauced poultry.