Marnelle on Trefethen Chardonnay

Marnelle talking about Trefethen Chardonnay at the Restaurant.

A message from Marnelle on why Trefethen Chardonnay is the only non-Kiepersol wine served at the Restaurant

In June of 2000, during my apprenticeship with Peter Luthi at Trefethen Vineyards, I had the opportunity to help on the bottling line for a day. That was the first time I had witnessed the process of preparing for bottling and then seeing the liquid go from the tank, through the filter to the filler heads and being poured into the bottle with a rhythmic beat reminiscent of Neil Diamond's "Beautiful Noise".

It was the most amazing feeling to hold the completed bottle on the other end of that bottling line because I knew I played a small role in the completed package of that wine. It was the moment I realized that the beautiful pumpkin pink winery and 600 acres of grapes surrounding it and the hot air balloons floating above it, would be a memory of that time and space captured in that bottle. My short time at Trefethen had an incredibly special influence on wine production at Kiepersol from cellaring practices to the high standards expected for commercial winemaking.

The climate on Kiepersol is not conducive to growing world class Chardonnay grapes. We know how important this variety is to many wine drinkers. Twenty years later, reflecting on that time, we have chosen to add a classic buttery Chardonnay to our Restaurant wine list. What better wine to bring onto our wine farm than the one that started it all? We are proud to share that we now offer the 2019 Trefethen Chardonnay…twenty years later!