100% Chardonnay

Food pairings: Fresh seafood, roast chicken, light pasta dishes and salads.

Winemaking: The grapes were harvested on the night of September 20, 2021, and the two clones were kept separate. The clone 95 was pressed into tank, chilled, settled and racked, then fermented naturally for 12 days before moving to barrel, where primary and malolactic fermentations ran until April. The clone 17 (Robert Young) juice was allowed to brown naturally before its own natural fermentation, which finished in barrel. Browning the juice adds richness, while the clone 95 brings fresh acidity. Both lots rested on their original lees until just before bottling. The blend is 61% clone 17/Robert Young and 39% clone 95. It aged 14 months in French oak barrels (67% new, 20% once-used and 13% neutral) and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. Jonive uses no commercial yeast, enzymes or additives, no sulfur dioxide at pressing and no malolactic culture, letting the fruit be what it wants to be.

Vineyards and terroir: The wine comes entirely from the estate's organically farmed (CCOF-certified) Moon Dust Vineyard in the Sebastopol Hills, the coolest part of the Russian River Valley. The vineyard sits on prized Goldridge soil over clay loam. Goldridge is known locally as "moon dust" and is considered the finest soil for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The Chardonnay vines, two clones in two blocks, were first planted in 1996, so the fruit comes from mature vines. The vineyard is farmed without synthetic herbicides, pesticides or fungicides with vineyard manager Matt Stornetta.

Family and history: Jonive takes its name from the 1845 California land grant "Rancho Cañada de Jonive", from which the Moon Dust Vineyard was established. Pioneering surveyor Jasper O'Farrell identified the land for its fertile watersheds, moderate temperatures and natural drainage. In 2021 the Underwood family bought the property to make world-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from its mature vines. The family owns Young's Holdings, founded as Young's Market Company in 1888 and now led by the fifth generation of the family. Winemaker Vance Rose has more than 40 years of experience making wine in California, France, Spain and Australia, and is also a highly regarded chef. He says that with Jonive, which began in 2021, he has finally found the vineyard he had long been searching for.

In the pictures: Ripening Chardonnay in Block 9 of the Moon Dust Vineyard, and the vineyard's rows at sunset in the Sebastopol Hills of the Russian River Valley (photos: Jonive Wine).