Philosophy & Practices
Diligence and balance, in every aspect of the winemaking process, are the keys to making world class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from our 42-acre estate vineyard. Our techniques are not revolutionary or ground breaking. They are, however, researched and carefully implemented from vineyard to finished wine.
 At Lynmar,
winemaking begins in the vineyard with winemaker Bibiana
Gonzalez Rave working closely with the vineyard team. They begin by developing healthy, balanced vineyards with soils alive with nutrients. Then we choose the right clones and selections, vine spacing and trellising for our site. The vineyards are pruned and maintained throughout the growing year by a skilled crew who balance and thin the crop to the highest standards. Once ripe, the fruit is hand picked early in the morning into small 35 pound lug boxes ensuring the grapes are delivered undamaged to the winery. The grapes are brought to the winery while they are still cool before the essential flavors and aromas are disrupted and lost to heat.
- Natural yeasts
Natural yeasts play an important role in the winemaking process for both our Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Because our estate vineyard is lined with trees, our fruit and the native yeasts are protected from any chemical drift from neighboring vineyards. The wines are fermented with the several native yeast strains that exist naturally on the fruit. These natural yeasts ferment at different alcohol levels, each contributing unique characteristics resulting in a greater complexity in wines.
- Developing and maintaining complexity and flavors
Again, while our techniques are not revolutionary, we do pay attention to every detail during the vineyard's growing season and the winemaking process treating the wine as gently as possible. Racking of wines is minimal, often times only occurring just prior to bottling. This allows the wines to clarify naturally and eliminates the need to filter. This process further contributes to complexity and allows the full flavor of the wine to come through. Our wines are made in gravity flow winery, which allows us to reduce the use of pumps. Our temperature- and humidity-controlled winery provides optimum aging conditions.
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Pinot Noir Winemaking
Once the Pinot Noir grapes arrive at the winery, they are hand sorted on the sorting table, and then again after they go through the destemmer so that only flawless berries reach the fermentation process. The berries are then crushed and placed in open-top, double-jacketed fementers. Small open-top fermenters are common in Pinot Noir winemaking because the variety requires a gentle "punch down" (rather than pump over) several times a day during fermentation. The double-jacketed feature lets us cool and heat the fermenting juice to coax the maximum flavor from the fruit. The juice is allowed to soak for three to seven days at a cool temperature before it is gently warmed to a temperature of 56 degrees at which natural fermentations will begin. The "cold soak" period is essential for extracting color, flavor and tannins from the skins. Once fermentation begins, the developing wine and cap are monitored daily and kept at precise temperature levels that are adjusted as the sugars convert to alcohol. Primary fermentation typically requires seven to 10 days during which the cap is punched down two to four times per day promoting full extraction of the fruit's color and flavors.
 After
primary fermentation, the wine is fed into a "basket press."
Winemaker Bibiana Gonzalez Rave favors pressing the wine minimally ensuring the best flavors and balanced tannins are maintained. The wine is then placed in French oak barrels and aged up to 16 months. Learn more about our barrel program below. During aging, the wines undergo a second fermentation that transforms the harsh malic acids to softer lactic acid called malolactic fermentation. Throughout the aging process each Pinot Noir barrel is checked weekly and topped as natural evaporation occurs. During this process the barrels are never disturbed allowing a natural settling to occur. This eliminates the need to filter and maintains the complex flavors and complexity the wine has developed. Finally, blends from the different barrels are assembled and bottled. This may be the only time the wines are ever moved.
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Vin Gris: Making a Better Pinot Noir
Part of making world class Pinot Noir requires we drain off a small amount of relatively clear juice from the fermenter. This increases the ratio of skins and pulp to juice and helps further concentrate the flavors of the new Pinot Noir. The small amount of juice drained from each fementer does not go to waste. The juice from all the fermenters is combined and fermented separately; making a dry rosé called Vin Gris. It is our first wine of the vintage. Due to the small amount of juice we drain off in these early stages, we can only make a limited amount of this delightful wine.
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Chardonnay Winemaking
 Making Chardonnay differs from Pinot Noir winemaking. After the entire cluster of clean, dry Chardonnay grapes are placed into a gentle Membrane press, the juice is placed in a cold stainless steel tank and allowed to settle for one to two days before being placed in French oak barrels. In the barrel, the juice is allowed to warm up allowing for natural primary fermentations to begin. The winemaker then determines if certain lots should go through malolactic fermentation based on the vintage and fruit attributes. This is followed by barrel aging up to 14 month. During the aging period, each barrel is checked and topped weekly and the lees are stirred based upon the winemaker's evaluations. Our Quail Cuvée Chardonnay is made in this manner. For our Russian River Valley blend, some of the fruit's fermentation occurs in stainless steel. This is then blended with barrel-fermented selections to create a more fruit forward, crisper style of Chardonnay reflecting the natural flavor of the grape.
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Barrel Program
 We use French oak barrels exclusively. The French oak tree, tall and straight with a tight grain, is a species much different than we see in California. Hand split on the grain, the barrels for our wines come from two forests, Troncais and Alliers, near the center of France. These forests produce the best wood for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Each year, we use barrels from six core coopers. In addition, we conduct trials with one or two additional cooperages allowing us to see which barrels enhance and allow us to reflect the character of the Quail Hill Vineyard. Extraordinary measures are taken to ensure we receive the best barrels from the best coopers, which includes paying for the barrels three years prior to delivery. Each of the coopers' barrels is known for their own contributions. It is this "spice rack" of flavors and complexity contributions that provide the winemaker with the components to blend an extraordinary wine.
Pinot Noir Barrels:
- Mercurey: We use Mercurey's "Grand Cru" barrel where the wood is air-dried a minimum of 30 months. The Mercurey barrel is exceptionally smooth and round and never overpowers the distinctive notes from our Quail Hill Vineyard.
- Sequin Moreau: Only the tightest grained Allier and Troncais wood is used here from "Bourgogne Grand Cru" barrel. This barrel adds a round structure and showcases the fruit and the vineyard's character.
- Latour: The lighter toast of the Latour barrel contributes structure and enhanced color stability while adding notes of vanilla and spice. It also continues to provide flavor and structure for two to three years. It is consistently one of the best second year barrels we have.
- Remond: Both two and three year air-dried wood from the Troncais and Allier forests are used in conjunction with Remond's distinctive, long toast. Remond is one of the few coopers with exceptional two-year air-dried wood, and we have noticed that each contributes positively to the blend.
- Rousseau: The distinctive house style of Rousseau is valuable contributor of complexity aromatic depth in the blend. We continue to work with Rousseau's able representative Jerome Aubin in the application of their barrels to our wines.
- Cadus: Only three year air-dry Alllier Medium + toast barrels are used from Cadus. This barrel is valued for its influence on wine structure and its forward spice.
- Francois Freres: Troncais barrels of Medium + toast, mostly three year air-dried selections, contribute the perfect combination of structure, smoky complexity, and amplification of fruit.
Chardonnay Barrels:
- Francois Freres: The Francois Allier Medium toast barrel is just about a perfect match with the high-toned aromas of our Rued selection fruit.
- Seguin-Moreau: As with the Pinot barrels, only the "Bourgogne Grand Cru" barrel is used here. However, for the Chardonnay we only use a medium toast, so as not to muddle the distinctive floral aromas of our estate fruit with any barrel toast character.
- Remond: We use the Allier MTL barrel from Remond. As with the Pinot, a mix of both two and three year wood is used for a greater range of aromas and flavors. The subtle character of the three year wood is used on our Dijon clones and certain vineyard blocks that give us a more delicate, acid-driven wine, while the two year air-dry barrels are used on our Rued selection fruit.
- Mercurey: The Mercurey barrels add a nice upfront smoke from its distinctive toast level. The barrels add a round texture and enhance mid palate richness. Mercurey are an important cooper for building layers in the wine.
- Latour: The Latour barrel with its light toast complements the high-toned floral aromas of the Chardonnay fruit from the Quail Hill Vineyard. It adds structure and complexity without interfering with the natural aromas and flavors of the developing wine.
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Cork Program
Lynmar Winery purchases the highest grade of corks available. Each batch of corks is put through three rigorous tests and a sensory evaluation prior to bottling. First, the corks are tested at the port of export in Europe where a technical analysis is recorded. That same analysis occurs at the port of entry.
Bibianathen conducts a sensory evaluation to select the corks he wants; he evaluates if the corks are too woody or too musty rejecting any that do not meet his standards. The third technical analysis is conducted and the three tests are compared. If there is any deviation in the analysis or if the corks do not meet our criteria they are rejected. This close scrutiny ensures that every cork in a bottle of Lynmar is the best cork available.
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