Oaky, buttery Chardonnay made the original way

We always work do things right. From selecting our grapes to painstakingly hand stirring every barrel, we revel in each step of the process. Click through below to see exactly how Harken becomes that smooth, delicious Chardonnay you’ve come to know us by.

Hand selected, hand stirred, hand crafted

Our grapes are grown under California sunshine without GMO’s or pesticides (our practices in the vineyard are Certified Sustainable).

We harvest our Chardonnay grapes when they reach peak ripeness. This leads to juicy, scrumptious notes of pineapple and Bosc pear.

We believe in barrel fermentation, and we do both primary and malolactic fermentation in fusion barrels made of 50% American Oak and 50% French oak – a nifty little innovation that allows us to make bold complex chardonnay without blending barrels.

In the primary fermentation process, most of our flavor compounds are created. Here, that rich texture you’ve come to know us by begins to develop. Thanks, primary fermentation.   

In the malolactic fermentation process, the signature butteriness begins. This happens when malic acid (the tart acid you’ve experienced in green apples) turns to lactic acid (the creamy acid you know from milk and butter). Because of this process, some acidity is reduced from the wine so all you’re left with is that velvet-like texture and buttery mouthfeel.

Over 8+ months, our wine is aged in our fusion barrels, made from 50% American and 50% French Oak. During the aging process, the barrels are able to impart their distinctive flavors on our wine – American Oak delivers notes of coconut and vanilla, and French Oak gives our Chardonnay its nuanced spice. Because chardonnay grapes are great at soaking up the flavors of the wood they’re barreled in, we’re able to create a complex yet deeply complementary flavor profile. 

Right before our wine hits the barrel aging process, our wine is fined and filtered. This ensures our wine is clear and delicious. Here, unwanted proteins are removed from our wine that may otherwise cause a haziness and flavors we don’t want present. We consider this process to be “the final touch” before the wine starts the aging process. It adds a consistency across our bottles so that every sip you take, no matter from which batch, keeps our signature flavors and textures.

Each barrel is hand stirred every 2 weeks to mix the lees and keep up our chardonnay’s signature rich, buttery texture. The people love Harken so much that once we finish stirring the last barrel, we head back to the first.

After 8 months of hand stirring our barrels every 2 weeks, our head winemaker Adam Popp tastes wine from each barrel and hand selects which are the quality necessary to be bottled into the wine that ends up in your home. 

Once he’s chosen the barrels that passed the taste test, those barrels are blended together. Here, we’re able to make any final touches before the wine is bottled up and ready to be enjoyed by Harken enthusiasts such as yourself.

Picking the grapes

Our grapes are grown under California sunshine without GMO’s or pesticides (our practices in the vineyard are Certified Sustainable).

We harvest our Chardonnay grapes when they reach peak ripeness. This leads to juicy, scrumptious notes of pineapple and Bosc pear.

Barrel Fermenting

We believe in barrel fermentation, and we do both primary and malolactic fermentation in fusion barrels made of 50% American Oak and 50% French oak – a nifty little innovation that allows us to make bold complex chardonnay without blending barrels.

In the primary fermentation process, most of our flavor compounds are created. Here, that rich texture you’ve come to know us by begins to develop. Thanks, primary fermentation.   

In the malolactic fermentation process, the signature butteriness begins. This happens when malic acid (the tart acid you’ve experienced in green apples) turns to lactic acid (the creamy acid you know from milk and butter). Because of this process, some acidity is reduced from the wine so all you’re left with is that velvet-like texture and buttery mouthfeel.

Barrel Aging

Over 8+ months, our wine is aged in our fusion barrels, made from 50% American and 50% French Oak. During the aging process, the barrels are able to impart their distinctive flavors on our wine – American Oak delivers notes of coconut and vanilla, and French Oak gives our Chardonnay its nuanced spice. Because chardonnay grapes are great at soaking up the flavors of the wood they’re barreled in, we’re able to create a complex yet deeply complementary flavor profile. 

Right before our wine hits the barrel aging process, our wine is fined and filtered. This ensures our wine is clear and delicious. Here, unwanted proteins are removed from our wine that may otherwise cause a haziness and flavors we don’t want present. We consider this process to be “the final touch” before the wine starts the aging process. It adds a consistency across our bottles so that every sip you take, no matter from which batch, keeps our signature flavors and textures.

Hand Stirring

Each barrel is hand stirred every 2 weeks to mix the lees and keep up our chardonnay’s signature rich, buttery texture. The people love Harken so much that once we finish stirring the last barrel, we head back to the first.

After 8 months of hand stirring our barrels every 2 weeks, our head winemaker Adam Popp tastes wine from each barrel and hand selects which are the quality necessary to be bottled into the wine that ends up in your home. 

Once he’s chosen the barrels that passed the taste test, those barrels are blended together. Here, we’re able to make any final touches before the wine is bottled up and ready to be enjoyed by Harken enthusiasts such as yourself.