Nid Tissé Bacigalupi Vineyard Chardonnay Russian River Valley 2022

Marie-Laure Ammons was born in the Limousin region of France- she and her sister Marie-Cécile were so petite at the time of their birth that their mother hadn't realized she was pregnant with twins. So, as children, Maman encouraged her two growing girls to practice sports. Marie-Laure and her sister took up track and field, and both became acclaimed scholar-athletes specializing in the 400m relay. They loved the outdoors and being physically active, so they decided to study viticulture and winemaking at the Université de Bordeaux. After graduation, Marie-Laure did a bit of globetrotting and in 1998, took a harvest position at Stonestreet in Alexander Valley (Marie-Cécile works at Rémy-Martin crafting cognac). After stints at Domaine Lejeune in Burgundy and at Hartford Court in Sonoma, Marie-Laure joined the esteemed winemaking team at Atelier Melka. For 18 years, she helped craft the wines in his illustrious portfolio. She eventually met her husband, winemaker Frederick Ammons (RUDD Estate, Napa Valley Reserve), and they settled in Calistoga, where they're raising their two children. Marie-Laure is now focused full-time on Nid Tissé: French for "woven nest" - referring to the fact that their family was stitched together by blending the fabrics of France and America. 

Thanks to connections forged during her years with Melka, Marie-Laure was able to source fruit from iconic vineyards. In 2016, Wine Enthusiast published a list of Grand Cru vineyards for California Chardonnay. If California were to use a ranking system akin to Burgundy- what would be our Grand Crus? The Bacigalupi vineyard made the list of just 24 sites (Stony Hill, Bien Nacido, Hudson to name a few others) spanning the 400 coastal miles from Mendocino County in the north down to Santa Barbara. 

This vineyard, near Healdsburg, was purchased by Helen and Charles Bacigalupi in 1956 and is now farmed by the third generation, who married into the Korbel sparkling wine family. Marie-Laure sourced this fruit from the Judgment of Paris block, which supplied fruit for the world-famous Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that won the contest. The more nuanced and delicate of her two Chardonnays, this wine was aged in neutral French oak and could go toe-to-toe with the best of Burgundy. Aromas of candied lemon, dried pineapple, and fragrant gardenia, followed by bright acidity on the palate, give way to a racy finish.