2020 was a crazy year across the board, and the grape growing season in the Russian River Valley was no exception.

Fires notwithstanding, the season was glorious. The on-again off-again drought here on the west coast was back on after a relatively wet and cool 2018 and 2019, but conditions weren’t severe. We had just enough water stress early in the season to limit crop size and keep berry size very small. This is a condition winemakers dream about since low crop size and small berry size typically leads to high concentrations of color, aroma, and flavor. Wines from this type of vintage are always exciting for their intensity and explosiveness.

Unfortunately, there was one flaw in this otherwise incredible growing season: a day in mid August when a heat spike combined with a lingering tropical storm. The lightning storm that resulted ignited hundreds of wildfires across the north coast. Fortunately for Arista, harvest was already well underway. As the fires grew in intensity and size over the coming days, we continued picking everything that was ready and had yet to be affected by the spreading smoke. However, while most of the Chardonnay made it into the cellar unscathed, the majority of our Pinot Noir crop, which is slightly later ripening, was lost to the damage inflicted by wildfire smoke and was simply not harvested.

The good news is that the surviving grapes from 2020 made incredible wines as we had hoped. The Chardonnay is once again brilliant coming on the heels of the spectacular 2019 vintage. And the Pinot Noir is wonderfully detailed and precise. Quantities are extremely limited, but we can celebrate the scarce and beautiful wines that survived 2020 as the silver lining from a tempestuous year.

An exceptional snapshot of the 2020 vintage in the Russian River, this release is a blend of barrels from five Russian River Valley sites: Flora Marie, El Diablo, Ritchie, Banfield, and our Westside Road Estate. With contributions from some of the finest Chardonnay vineyards in the appellation and made with slightly less new oak than our vineyard designates, this cuvée offers the highest level of early drinkability in our portfolio while maintaining an extraordinary degree of quality. Notes of lemon curd, candied oranges, and white flowers are joined by notes of baking spices and caramelized sugar. A touch of flinty reduction and a citrus inflected acid backbone keep the finish fresh and lively.