# Quartz Creek Vineyard Chardonnay (2021)

- **Producer:** Heitz Cellar
- **Colour:** white
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Chardonnay
- **Region:** California, United States
- **Style:** Classic
- **Alcohol:** 13.0%
- **Average price:** €75
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 10–12 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** apple, pear, lemon, grapefruit, blossom, peach, butter, toast, vanilla, almond, hazelnut, honey

## About this wine

In the early 1960s, Heitz Cellar founders Joe and Alice Heitz studied under Fred and Eleanor McCrea of Stony Hill Vineyard—pioneers of bone-dry, non-malolactic, highly structured Napa Chardonnay. Today, winemaker Brittany Sherwood honors that classic, post-Prohibition legacy. Rather than conforming to the heavily oaked, buttery California trend, this single-vineyard bottling from the Quartz Creek Vineyard in the cooler Oak Knoll District is a crystalline, mineral-driven masterclass focused on site transparency and ageability.

## Interesting facts

- The vineyard is named after its gravelly, sedimentary alluvial soils heavily strewn with a high concentration of quartz rock.
- Heitz Cellar completely blocks malolactic fermentation for this wine, resulting in a vibrant, 'live-wire' malic acidity.
- The 2021 vintage was marked by an intense drought, producing exceptionally small berries with highly concentrated flavors.

## Food pairing

The wine's high natural acidity and mineral-driven profile make it an exceptional partner for dishes with natural richness, fat, or light cream. The vibrant acidity cuts cleanly through savory richness, while the subtle oak and lees-stirred texture complement roasted poultry and seafood.

## Wine making process

Whole-cluster pressed and fermented with native (indigenous) yeasts. Malolactic fermentation is strictly blocked to preserve the grape's pure, crisp malic acid structure. The wine is aged for 12 months on its fine lees in 100% French oak barrels, with only 25% new oak used for the 2021 vintage. Periodic bâtonnage (lees stirring) is performed to develop a textured, creamy mid-palate that balances the high natural acidity.