2019 Cortada Alta Vineyard Chardonnay

Santa Lucia Highlands AVA

Tasting Notes

“Medium yellow hue. Scents of honey, brioche, nectarine, vanilla bean, and dried apricot make for an enjoyable first impression from our inaugural Cortada Alta Chardonnay. Once on the palate, notes of cream, dried fruits, and honey segue towards a youthful, edgy texture. This Chardonnay finishes with a fresh, lively, and intricate conclusion. Enjoy now through 2026.”

~Bill Brosseau, Director of Winemaking
February 2021

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“Starting with a very approachable and generous nose, this wine offers aromas of honeysuckle, gardenia, ripe pear and sea salt. It’s much tighter on the palate, where Meyer lemon and ripe grapefruit flavors play with Asian and red pear as a toasty brioche element emerges on the finish.”

Matt Kettmann
Wine Enthusiast

Production Data

Growers: Peterson Family
Winemaker: Bill Brosseau
Appellation: Santa Lucia Highlands AVA
Elevation/Exposure: 1400 ft./South, West, and East
Soil: Chualar loam with outcroppings of granite
Vineyard Age: 5 years
Viticulture Practice: Farmed Organic
Vinification: Pressed Whole-Cluster, fermented in French Oak
Cooperage & Aging: 10 months in 100% French Oak, 66% new
Production: 3 barrels
Composition: 100% Chardonnay
Clones: 100% Hyde Clone
Acidity: 5.36 g/L – 3.59 pH
Alcohol: 14.2%
Harvest: October 12, 2019
Club Release: February 2021
Release Price: $53

Drink Now through 2026

Wine Scores

First Vintage

The Cortada Alta Vineyard

This family owned vineyard is the second vineyard property for John and Lynne Peterson, the first being the Peterson Vineyard on River Road. Cortada Alta is Spanish for “High Notch” as it is located in the western notch of the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation. It sits at 1,400 feet in elevation and has a South Eastern exposure. The soil is rich Chualar loam with outcroppings of granite. This sunny site sits mostly above the fogline with expansive views of the Salinas Valley below. Planted in 2014, Testarossa’s first vintage of Pinot Noir from the vineyard was in 2017 and the first vintage of Chardonnay was in 2019.

Past Vintages