2023 Silhouette Chardonnay

Winemaking

Silhouette is a limited production white wine worthy of a collector’s cellar. This hallmark Chardonnay captures the Schlatter Family’s vision of crafting an old-world style white wine from Napa Valley. Since the first vintage in 1993, we have selected our very best Chardonnay lots for the Silhouette bottling. This vintage is no exception. Sourced from the best Chardonnay block in the historic Stanly Ranch Vineyard on the Napa side of the Carneros AVA, our Silhouette is a uniquely captivating wine. Meticulously crafted using time honored old world techniques, the gentle native barrel fermentation allows for the full expression of the fruit, resulting in a wine that is elegantly balanced, refined, and complex.

Hand harvested at night to retain vibrant acidity, the grapes for Silhouette were whole cluster pressed to a temperature controlled stainless steel tank to settle the juice, then racked into French oak barrels the following day. The winemaking techniques were classic Burgundian—spontaneous native yeast barrel fermentation, gentle bâttonage and natural malolactic fermentation. The wine was aged for 16 months on fine lees in 50% new French Burgundian oak barrels, and was racked once before bottling.

Tasting Notes

The 2023 Silhouette is everything we love about great Chardonnay—bright, fresh, full, complex, long and delicious. Aromas of yellow peach, D’Anjou pear, and orange blossom reflect the cool-climate Carneros fruit. Subtle crushed oyster shell and dried pineapple notes reveal marine-influenced soils and barrel fermentation on fine lees. Hints of honeycomb and almond skin from light-toast French oak lend quiet structure and depth. The palate is round and textural with balanced phenolic tension, finishing fresh and persistent with lifted acidity and saline minerality. An excellent food companion, the wine is also stunning on its own and will continue to evolve over the next 10+ years.