Had the opportunity to try the new coastal Chardonnay project from Jason Exposto (Futo winemaker) and his partner, Lauren Strojny.
Micro-production (first release is 2 barrels) of 4 expressions of Chardonnay from incredible sites with coastal influence.
The first release is from the historic Waters Ranch (famous for Helen Turley’s Pahlmeyer Chards), and it’s absolutely incredible. An amazing interplay of rich fruit with beautiful mineral, wet stone overtones matched with a sense of mystique/elusiveness. Lemon confit, white flower, orchard fruit. Deep, vivid and striking. White Burgundy meets California.
Future release will include a wines from West Sonoma Coast as well as Sta Rita Hills.
https://www.soundswine.com/signup/
Always fun to discover great new wine from amazing people, and Jason and Lauren are two of the best. I am in the industry but no connection to this project.
Hey appreciate you sharing new producers. Are you ITB? If so, then you need to disclose this to the community here.
Indeed - looking for clarification, standing by…
Jason is a smart cookie.
Yes I am, apologies for not clarifying. Will update the post to reflect accordingly. No financial interest in what I share, just enjoy passing it on when I try something great.
Thank you. But you also need to permanently flag your profile as ITB, too. This gives the bright transparency that the forum serves here, and also accords you that distinction of working inside the industry and could encourage others to engage with you in a larger way because of it. Todd may be able to describe this differently but I believe I have the gist.
Thank you Frank…not sure how to do that but will figure it out.
Thanks, $399/3pack is a bit challenging…at $75-ish a bottle I’d give it a shot for sure.
Yeah, I just came to say the same. Steep price for an initial offering of a wine I have never tried.
I was about to look, but at that price…pass
Hi All,
It’s great to see a post on SOUNDS!
We are humbled to finally get the wines out into the wild, and very excited by what we have been able to capture in bottle.
This first release, Waters, is pure electricity coupled with the refinement of textures that we are looking to capture.
Let me know if you have any questions
Best regards
Jason Exposto
Itb Winemaker & Viticulturalist
Jason,
Thanks for posting. Would be curious on some more details about winemaking including cooperage and your thoughts on vineyard exposures/soil and how you and team got to $133 a bottle for first release.
Hi Kris, and WB crew
Being from a viticultural background our foundation for shaping wine style is through viticultural cultural practices tailored to individual sites. Pruning, shoot selection, approaches to canopy light environment, fruit thinning, I could go on…. Are all carried out with intention and view to fruit composition (and ultimately wine style). SOUNDS is focused on crystalline, pure expressions. Mineral driven, coupled with layered acidity and length.
In the cellar our wines are made by feel. We craft the wines in an ice cold cave in the eastern Napa hills above St Helena. Separating multiple fractions off of the press, and fermenting/aging these in isolation. Native alcoholic and malolactic fermentations, use of custom large format cooperage, no disturbance of lees on barrel (no battonage), and bottling without fining or filtration, are some of the other approaches that shape the wines.
Our first release, WATERS, is from the most historic block on the site (around 0.75 acres total) planted by David Abreu and Helen Turley in the late 90s. At 2100 feet, west facing, on volcanic based soils. It’s an incredibly singular expression.
Regarding your question on pricing, it is completely driven by what we have to pay to work with a site/fruit of this calibre.
Let me know if anyone has any questions on the wines. We are over the moon excited to finally be releasing the wine into the wild!
Best regards,
Jason Exposto
Itb Winemaker & Viticulturalist
$399 a 3-pack!? This is all Chardonnay, correct? Just making sure its not a new Napa Cab 
Will this wine age well? Or should I just pop and pour?
Hi Dave,
I think the wine will have a long aging curve
I would recommend decanting if anyone opens a bottle in the next few months
Thanks Jason. What decisions are you making in the vineyard with clones or harvest dates to maintain the energy and purity you are seeking.
Is there a producer/bottling in your mind that you personally fell in love with and are looking to emulate from Europe or outside the US?
Will the future wines you make (the OP mentioned Sonoma Coast and SRH) be in a similar price range or will they offer consumers some different levels?
Just off the truck…unique packaging, with a branded shipping box and thin, taller bottles that remind me of a few Champagne bottles I’ve seen.
Regarding the pricing- it’s fine. I have no problem with the price. $133/b is not cheap but it’s in line with other Chardonnays such as Peter Michael, not to mention Burgundy.
I’ll open the first of them in a couple of months once they’ve recovered from shipping (yes, yes, I know…we don’t need to start that up again).
