The
Vineyards
We sourced the Muscat Mute for this unique blend from
the Central Valley, where the hot afternoons are ideal
for developing the golden color and muscat flavors of
the Muscat of Alexandria grape. The Petite Sirah comes
from the Contra Costa County, which provides a dry, warm
climate ideal for ripening this small-berried, tightly-clustered
grape. The Pinot Noir came from the Russian River Valley
as well as Carneros. Both of these regions are well known
for producing the finest Pinot Noir in California.
The Vintage
72.2% of the grapes for this blend came from the 2001
vintage, which was characterized by low yields with
warmer than usual weather. The fruit sourced from this
vintage provided the ripe flavors and the spiciness
to this wine. The remaining 27.8% was from the 2000
vintage, considerably cooler than the other vintage.
This fruit from this vintage brought more aged complexity
to the blend, along with subtle wood tones, as this
portion was aged in barrels. Ultimately, the 2001 fruit
brought elegance to balance out the ripe nature of the
fruit from the 2000 vintage.
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