Wine Article
2008 Scholium Project Marcher Sûr La Lune Bokisch Ranches
Last edited on 8/24/2009 by shemmy
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2008 BOKISCH RANCHES MARCHER SŪR LA LUNE
$32.00
We drove to Lodi one day, and when we finally reached this section of the Bokisch ranch, our jaws dropped. The vines are planted on a hill with 100 foot rise with a 15% slope-- on gravelly, iron-stained, superbly drained soil. The vines were struggling just enough; the fruit load seemed perfect.
At harvest, we crushed the fruit to press, pressed lightly as always, settled the juice in a chilled tank for 24 hours, without gas or CO2, and then filled one of our beautiful wooden fermenters for the first time with juice for white wine. It was the first fermentation of the year, and Jacob had cleaned the tank scrupulously, so the fermentation took a long time to begin-- after 7 days, we felt a little concern. On the eighth day, we saw foam on the surface and winery began to blossom with the wonderful aroma of yeast feeding. The wine fermented in this large tank, somewhat protected by its own CO2 but otherwise exposed to air. When the fermentation was complete, we put the wine down to neutral oak barrels and began sulfuring it to deter malolactic fermentation. Some barrels have gone through anyway; others have not. The wine will spend one year in barrel before bottling. It has striking intensity and minerality; a complete reflection of the soil in which it was grown.
Beyond being a white wine, it has no discernible relation to our other verdelhos: it is in a much different register from the light and floral Naucratis, and more intense with greater minerality than Gemella usually achieves. Moreover, it has spent a year in barrel. This has added to the wine's length and intensity, though it has softened it somewhat. The wine has no rough edges and has aged with the virtue of Chardonnay, but maintains a freshness and minerality more like Chablis than Meursault.
461 cases produced
$32.00
We drove to Lodi one day, and when we finally reached this section of the Bokisch ranch, our jaws dropped. The vines are planted on a hill with 100 foot rise with a 15% slope-- on gravelly, iron-stained, superbly drained soil. The vines were struggling just enough; the fruit load seemed perfect.
At harvest, we crushed the fruit to press, pressed lightly as always, settled the juice in a chilled tank for 24 hours, without gas or CO2, and then filled one of our beautiful wooden fermenters for the first time with juice for white wine. It was the first fermentation of the year, and Jacob had cleaned the tank scrupulously, so the fermentation took a long time to begin-- after 7 days, we felt a little concern. On the eighth day, we saw foam on the surface and winery began to blossom with the wonderful aroma of yeast feeding. The wine fermented in this large tank, somewhat protected by its own CO2 but otherwise exposed to air. When the fermentation was complete, we put the wine down to neutral oak barrels and began sulfuring it to deter malolactic fermentation. Some barrels have gone through anyway; others have not. The wine will spend one year in barrel before bottling. It has striking intensity and minerality; a complete reflection of the soil in which it was grown.
Beyond being a white wine, it has no discernible relation to our other verdelhos: it is in a much different register from the light and floral Naucratis, and more intense with greater minerality than Gemella usually achieves. Moreover, it has spent a year in barrel. This has added to the wine's length and intensity, though it has softened it somewhat. The wine has no rough edges and has aged with the virtue of Chardonnay, but maintains a freshness and minerality more like Chablis than Meursault.
461 cases produced