2019 Adelaida Viognier

Translucent gold color with aromas of fresh peach, yellow plum, sweet orange blossom, butterscotch, and toasted oak. Elegant entry with juicy acidity, flinty crushed rock minerality, and a long finish. EB (10/20)

Frequent winter storms and a cold spring delayed the growing season by a month. Summer fog further slowed the vines’ progress, but the small crop developed ripe flavors early for harvest on September 5. Whole-cluster pressed, the resulting juice was racked to barrel for fermentation. Aged on its lees for thirteen months, without stirring or racking, it clarified naturally. This delicious wine is enjoyable now. It will be at its best over the next four to six years. EB (10/20)

This is our second bottling of viognier from the Adelaida Vineyard. Paso Robles is the epicenter of new Rhône plantings in California. We are fortunate to be able to source grapes from Adelaida Vineyards, who planted grenache blanc, roussanne, viognier and picpoul blanc, among other more established varieties such as grenache noir, syrah and mourvedre (mataro). Their vineyard lies on the limestone hills of the Adelaida District, thirteen miles from the Pacific coast. Warm days, cool nights, and balanced vines promote great acidity in the grapes.

Rainfall: 35 inches (above average)
Bloom: Late May
Weather: Spring was cool and wet, summer had warm to hot days with cool nights.

Harvest Date: 5 September
Grapes: Average Brix 24.4˚
TA: 6.0 g/L
pH: 3.29
Fermentation: 100% direct-to-press whole cluster, 20% concrete/80% barrel fermented. 100% natural primary finished by early November, secondary finished February, 2020.
Barrels: 97% air-dried American oak, 3% French oak (25% new, 75% four years-old).
Aging: Thirteen months in barrel

Hand-harvested grapes; whole-cluster pressed; fermented on the native yeasts; full malolactic on the naturally occurring bacteria; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective sulfur. Pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.