Winemaker Notes

A brilliant golden hue. Aromatics of purity and ripeness of dried stone orchard fruit with soft floral nuances including honeysuckle, pear, tropical notes, and underlying earthiness. On the palate, perfectly balanced, gentle oak. The natural clonal flavors intertwined with notes of yellow pear and ripe apple, white flowers, and sweet citrus. An elegant balanced wine of bright lively acidity ending with a penetrating minerality and an elongated opulent finish.

Climate and Harvest

2012 was an exceptional winegrowing season. Growth was even throughout which meant much less stress on the vines, and mother nature allowed for a beautifully balanced crop of small, even clusters with rich, intense flavors and absolute perfect quality. A season we can all name a best of decades. It was a mild Spring with little rain or frost. During the summer months, we had an abundance of cool pacific fog in the morning, and warm sunshine in the afternoon with temperatures in the mid-90's and then quickly cooling off after sunset. These daily temperature swings in Alexander Valley make it a great place to grow wine grapes. This daily cyclical temperature shift, occasionally hitting 50 degrees, continued into September ripening up fruit evenly and slowly, allowing us to bring in harvest at a steady pace.

As winemakers, our intention is to reveal the true character of our land and soils through the variations of clones and this year was no exception with 8 of the 11 estate clones chosen. After a gentle basket pressing, we began our slow, cool fermentations of soft, again gentle stirring of the lees in French Oak casks each lot driven individually Malolactic was limited to 12%. light sur lie stirring for 8 months adding rounded mouthfeel and natural clarification. Barrel aging in Latour & Sirugue from Burgundy, France - for 11 months followed by 23 months in bottle upon release.