2009 Estate Roussanne

Winemaker Notes

The 2009 Estate Roussanne represents our first effort from our Roussanne planting. The 2009 growing season started late and was fairly cool the entire summer. The late ripening Roussanne was the last to be picked on our estate vineyard in early November. There was a very slight amount of botrytis (Noble Rot) that affected the grapes and increased the otherwise very low sugar levels slightly. It also had the effect of increasing the complexity of the finished wine. Being the first pick from a young vineyard, we were barely able to collect enough grapes for a half barrel of wine, but we managed to get just enough. Over the 19 months the wine spent in barrel, it was topped with Viognier and Chardonnay, though this represents less than 2% of the final wine.

The resulting wine has light golden amber hue. There is a distinct minerality on the nose expressed as crushed rocks, plus notes of citris, white peaches, and tropical fruit. On the palate, the notes of white peach repete themselves along with guava and subtle hints of stone fruit. It is full bodied and unctuous with significant weight, but without any waxiness or excess alcohol or glycerin. The finish is long and broad. At release, this wine is very tightly wound and will require a long decant to open it up. It would be preferable to give this wine at least a couple of years, with further improvement likely for at least another four to five years thereafter.

About the Artist: Friend and Santa Cruz artist Matt Jones created the painting for this label for our Homestead label. Since our Roussanne block was planted just above the site of the original homestead on our estate, we thought it appropriate for this label. – Bradley Brown, Winemaker

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Wine Information

• Harvested: November, 2009
• Winemaking: Whole cluster pressed, indigenous yeasts, barrel fermented
• Barrel aged 19 months in almost neutral French oak
• Bottled May, 2011
• Alcohol 14%
• 11 cases produced