About this winery

Why Matchbook? As a farm kid growing up in the late 1950´s and early 1960´s John Giguiere was a confirmed pyromaniac starting various things on fire such as his father´s wheat field. At one point, fearing total ruin from his kids burning him out of the house and farm, his father took them to the city jail for an hour stay to impress upon his brother and him the futility of their fascination with fire. John and his brother answered at a later date by graduating from random fires to the...

See the MATCHBOOK WINES detail page for more information on this brand

Production notes

The estate fruit went from vine to crusher in less than 30 minutes, arriving well before sunrise to ensure the fresh, fruit flavors were preserved. A yeast cocktail (a mixture of the winemaker’s favorite compatible yeasts) was used in all of the lots to ensure that complex fermentation characters evolved. These lots were barrel fermented, with frequent stirring of the lees. 100% of the barrel lots went through malo-lactic fermentation. 10% of the finest barrel lots were selected and allowed to age an additional six months while they maintained a frequent stirring program. The barrels were evaluated again and only half of the original top 10% were selected for the final blend.

Tasting notes

A beautiful golden straw color opens to aromas of crème brûlèe, butterscotch, brown sugar and vanillin oak. Dense flavors of pear, mango and pineapple are layered over creamy buttery notes and toasty oak. While this Chardonnay is not shy on flavor, the layers are well-integrated and balanced.