Marine Layer
2024 Aries Chardonnay
VITICULTURAL AREA
The 2024 Aries Chardonnay is a carefully curated selection of premier lots from Sonoma Coast’s finest vineyards, including Green Valley, Petaluma Gap, and our own Marine Layer Vineyard in the Sebastopol Hills. Bathed in cool, foggy nights and nurtured by diverse soils and distinctive microclimates, these sites yield a Chardonnay that is bright and vibrant, yet beautifully mineral driven, layered with nuance and elegance.
VINIFICATION
Hand-picked at night, whole cluster direct to press. Cold settled for 24 hours, then put into concrete egg and oak puncheon, 20% new. Cool native ferment at 58-60°F for 10-14 days. Spontaneous/native fermentation; the wine undergoes 100% malolactic. Gentle lees
stirring once per month through May. After aging 11 months, the blend is assembled and racked gently to tank. Unfined and lightly filtered.
TASTING NOTES
The 2024 Aries Chardonnay shines with a pale yellow hue and aromas of lemongrass and Meyer lemon curd, wrapped in notes of brioche and graham cracker. On the palate, it’s bright and quenching, with citrus peel, subtle hints of straw, and a clean, mineral backbone. Vibrant acidity carries the layered flavors seamlessly, while a touch of barrel influence adds depth. With its poised structure and refined character, the 2024 vintage is a
classic, cool-climate, coastal Californian Chardonnay: elegant and expressive, yet layered with depth and effortlessly graceful.
PRESS - 93 JS
"Light-bodied, fresh and tangy, offering green apple and lime zest aromas, followed by energized acidity and a touch of key lime pie on the palate. Great balance, focus, and precision. Drink now or hold."
PRESS - 93 JD
"A bright silver/yellow hue, the 2024 Chardonnay Aries is delightful and airy while still delivering refreshing ripe fruit, pear, apple, lime, and lemon sherbet. Medium-bodied, with weightless freshness, sneaky density, salty earth, and wet stones, these wines kick ass. Drink 2026-2032."
PRESS - 94 VIN
"The 2024 Chardonnay Aries is a gorgeous, precise wine. Lemon peel, chalk, mint, white flowers and dried herbs soar out of the glass. Bright and chiseled to the core, the Aries Chardonnay is a fabulous entry-level bottling in this range from Marine Layer, if that term can even be used. This is such a classy wine."
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