Rorick Vineyard Chardonnay 2016

Rorick Heritage Vineyard sits at 2,000 feet elevation in Calaveras County, just outside Murphys in the Sierra Foothills AVA. The Chardonnay vines are own-rooted Old Wente clones planted between 1974 and 1976 by Barden Stevenot, the figure credited with establishing modern winegrowing in Calaveras County. Matthew Rorick purchased the 75-acre property in 2013 and converted it to organic farming. The soils are schist over a limestone bedrock, which drives the wine's distinctive minerality and natural acidity.

Michael Cruse at Cruse Wine Co. handles this fruit with minimal intervention. Grapes are hand harvested and pressed using a long Champagne-style press cycle. The juice is transferred to neutral barrels where fermentation occurs spontaneously with native yeast. The wine ages approximately 16 to 18 months in neutral wood before a small sulfur addition at bottling. No fining or significant manipulation is documented for this wine.

The nose shows orange blossom, ripe pear, lemon rind, and apricot, with a thread of roasted almond running through. On the palate, the texture is viscous and oily in the way that old, low-yielding vines at elevation tend to produce, but the acidity is firm and cleansing. The finish is long and mineral, with wet stone character that points directly to the limestone bedrock beneath the vineyard.

This is a single-vineyard Chardonnay from a site that is genuinely unusual in California: ungrafted old vines on limestone at altitude, farmed organically, vinified without additives or new oak. It reflects both the specificity of the Rorick site and Cruse's restraint in the cellar.

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Important Compliance Requirements

FedEx and other carriers we might occasionally use can only deliver wine to customers who are 21 years or older. Someone must be at the address to receive the package, carriers don't just drop a package and leave. They must ensure the person receiving the wine is 21 or older.

Re-shipping a Package

If a package is returned to us after three failed delivery attempts, we can only re-ship the wine upon payment of a re-shipping fee, to be determined based on the shipping address and number of bottles. Shipping wine is extremely expensive. We are sorry about this, but we have no other choice. Please make sure there's always someone at the address you enter as your shipping address.

If you'd like to receive a refund for a package that was returned to us after FedEx made three delivery attempts, we can do that but we must keep a $20 refund fee; FedEx charges us a lot of money for returns, unfortunately, I can't stress this enough.

Re-routing a Package

If you'd like to reroute a package after it's been shipped, we can do so for a $20 re-routing fee. We cannot re-route a package across state borders. For any change of address, please contact us as soon as possible, ideally within 1-2 days from placing the order or we cannot guarantee we'll be able to reroute or change your order's shipping address.

Canceling an Order

If you'd like to cancel an order after it's been shipped, we can do so upon payment of a small cancellation fee – the amount depends on the size of the order. Carriers charge us a lot of money to recall a package en-route.

Heat/Frost damage

We are not responsible for heat- or frost-related issues. We offer ice-packs upon request. Please let us know if you think that there could be heat-related issues. If we don't hear anything from you regarding weather issues before an order is shipped, or if you don't request a hold due to the weather, we are not responsible for heat/frost damage.

Placed an order. What next?

1. You will receive an order confirmation email with your order summary.*

2. As soon as your order ships from the warehouse, usually within 2-3 business days, this applies to all shipping rates, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with your tracking information. 2DAY shipping refers to shipping time; we still need 2-3 business days to prepare an order. We need to pick and pack, QA, add printed collateral, and palletize the orders.

3. Please track your package using the tracking service.

4. The carrier will attempt delivery a maximum of 3 times. After 3 delivery attempts, your package will be sent back to our warehouse.**

*Please ensure your email address is correct; otherwise, you will not receive the order and shipping confirmation emails.

**If delivery is attempted 3 times without success, or if you fail to retrieve your package from the carrier depot by the stated deadline, the shipping fee will not be refunded to the customer.

Returns Policy

If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us at (424) 414-2040 or via e-mail at hello@primalwine.com between 9 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Sunday, we would like to understand and try to solve your concerns. We can offer refunds only as store credit.