(from website)

Block C from Lee Hudson’s beautiful ranch has once again proved to be an excellent site for growing the finicky grape. The 2 clones, 777 and Pommard, were picked at 3 am on September 4th arriving at the winery nice and cold. By mid morning the 5.42 tons were sorted, destemmed, and carefully dumped into an open topped stainless tank. The chiller was set to 50 degrees and the cold soak began. Four days later I turned the chillers off so the grapes (and all the indigenous yeasts) could warm up and hopefully start fermenting. And bingo- it did. Within a week the batch was fermenting so fiercely that it nearly overflowed out of the tank. It is surely a sight to see! In order to prevent any loss I bled off a barrel of juice (which of course became Rose).

Punch downs by hand occurred several times a day during the peak of fermentation and tapered down to one as the juice neared dryness. The wine was then drained into about 30% new French oak and tasted delicious going into barrel. And that says a lot because normally i don't feel that way. After about 11 months aging quietly with nothing but the bi-monthly topping, the wine was racked and bottled up.

Black raspberry jam, wild strawberry, ripe pluots, and spices leap out of the glass into your nose. The palate has these flavors and more - as the fruit meets the oak meets the terroir and makes friends with a fabulous acidity. You know, it’s always changing though, so try for yourself.

287 produced

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