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Varietal
Information
This grape is an improved Muscat Hybrid developed by Dr. Harold Olmo of U.C. Davis. Development of this grape began in 1948 and was completed in 1981; it was patented in 1983. It is a cross between Alexandria Muscat and Grenache and was developed with the goal of achieving a higher quality, fruity-style Muscat wine that could be grown in the warmer microclimates of California. The varietal flavors display the distinctive, floral characteristics of Muscat, but the breeding adds intriguing citrus flavors as well. It received its name at a Wine Institute tasting when a winemaker exclaimed that the complexity of flavors and aromas was like the orchestration of a symphony. Our first vintage of this wine was 1987. The late Sylvia Sebastiani, along with many other consumers, loved its fruit character, and it remains popular today. The best quality Symphony grapes seem to come from the upper San Joaquin, Yolo, and Sacramento Counties due to both ample sun and cooling winds. The grapes for this particular wine were sourced entirely from a Rio Vista vineyard in the Clarksburg appellation of Yolo County. The Vintage The 2007 vintage is an excellent year because of the cool fall weather balanced by just enough summer heat that the grapes ripened before winter rains. It was picked on October 10 th , just before the first rain of the season. The extended “hang time” allowed the fruit to develop complex and very concentrated bright tropical fruit aromas and flavors. |
