2018 Beyond the Clouds

The 2018 Beyond the Clouds is made up primarily of Chardonnay blended with a number of other white varieties from Elena Walch’s top selection, which are then fermented together in new Barriques, where the wine stays on the lees for another ten months. The 2018 is currently quite youthful, showing more of its vanillin oak than fruit. Still, there’s plenty of ripe apples, peaches, minty herbs and even a note of kiwi to be found. It’s on the palate where this impresses the most, densely packed and poised, but also wonderfully balanced with an interplay of acids and minerals that offset its ripe fruits and hints of spicy wood. Nearly a minute goes by before its sweet inner florals dissipate on the neatly framed finish.