Growing Conditions
After a mild winter with no significant cold spells nor any problematic spring frosts, the summer arrived quite mild and dry. August was very humid with significant rain during the fall with some places receiving up to 9” of rain in August. Rains and frequent cloud cover during September and October made the season challenging. However, with the careful attention to the soundness of the fruit including a crop thin a week before harvest, we were blessed with significant noble rot (around 30%) which made this the most intensely concentrated Riesling we have made to date.
Harvest
The fruit was hand harvested.
Bottling
It bottled in August of 2019.
Winemaking
More than anything this Riesling tells the story of the vintage. The 30% noble rot in the field surprised us all with a harvest Brix of 24.5!
Gently destemmed. After 2 hours of skin contact in the press, the juice was cold settled for 5 days before being racked to a small stainless tank for fermentation. The juice was inoculated with VIN13 yeast and went through a two week, cool fermentation. After racking, it was gently fined with a small amount of bentonite prior to bottling.
Aging
The wine aged sur lie for 6 months to further develop depth and complexity. Then aged in bottle for 12 months prior to release in August 2020.