There’s no way to sugarcoat it: 2020 was one of the most challenging vintages we’ve overly experienced. Between the wildfires, smoke and COVID-19 safety guidelines, stress levels were at an all-time upper for winemakers throughout the West Coast. Yet despite the season’s difficulties, Sonoma winemakers produced unconfined 2020 chardonnay—expressive in its youth, with freshness and acidity. Here are four factors that unliable Jordan to craft trappy chardonnay in a vintage that put the team to the test.

2020 Russian River Valley Chardonnay Vintage

The Growing Season Progressed Beautifully

The vineyards awoke from winter dormancy in mid-to-late March, and bud unravel happened right on time. The vines enjoyed a warm, sunny spring, with no real threat of frost. While some light rainfall interrupted flowering, reducing the chardonnay crop, fruit set was even. A warm summer brought only two significant heat spikes, and the vines looked healthy and balanced, with little-to-no sunburn. Apart from the challenges presented by COVID-19 precautions, most of the 2020 growing season ran smoothly.

Jordan’s Chardonnay Vineyards were Far from Smoke and Fire

When thousands of lightning strikes ignited wildfires wideness California on August 17, the Walbridge Fire—which burned in a remote, forested zone west of Healdsburg—was far unbearable yonder from our Russian River Valley grower vineyards that smoke skid was not a significant issue. The fire moreover burned slowly, lacking the winds it needed to quickly spread flames and smoke.

Everyone Pulled Together to Help

When pandemic travel restrictions canceled harvest intern programs, wearing off an essential seasonal workforce at the winery, Jordan’s unshortened team stepped up to help. Sales department employees quickly pivoted to help plant grapevines on the manor during the summer, then learned to pump the must or crushed grapes into presses or tanks at harvest. Maintenance employees learned to operate the hopper while the winemaking team received grapes. Jordan’s staff worked together as a small team, while pursuit protocols to alimony everyone unscratched from COVID-19.

Winemakers Tested (and Tested Again) to Ensure Clean Fruit

As soon as fire evacuation orders were lifted for Russian River Valley, permitting wangle to Jordan’s grower vineyards, the winemaking team began testing for smoke impacts. Trusting their expert palates to tell them what they needed to know, they sampled grapes in each woodcut and found that the freshness and venom of the juice were intact. Winemakers moreover performed “micro-ferments” in five-gallon buckets for each block, and not a trace of smoke was found.

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