2007 Potter Valley Riesling
This year’s Riesling harvest in Mendocino’s Potter Valley was preceded by a cool growing season and a long ripening period, delivering fruit with full flavors, yet at low sugar and alcohol levels. Such vineyard conditions are also very important for this lighter weight grape variety as the moderating temperatures allow the clusters to naturally develop a nice amount of Botrytis, the “noble rot” that dries out the fruit and gives pronounced aromatics as in late harvest and sauternes.
Because these grapes were so soft and mature, we whole-cluster
pressed all of them to maintain the purity of their very intense
fruit aromas. Their delicacy also required a deft precision in the
winemaking, to which we are quite accustomed after many years of
experience with Riesling. For example, after fermentation using
three different yeast strains, the juice was then put through a
complex maturation process involving both stainless steel and
neutral French oak barrels - all of this to achieve a pleasing
complexity in the finished wine.
vintage weather
tasting notes
The wine is bright, brilliant yellow gold in color, the deep
gold a true Botrytis effect. The nose offers a wafting of perfume,
with aromas of honeysuckle, Crenshaw or white melon, and a very
pleasing varietal spice. On the palate it is simply "juicy-juice"
tasty, bright, and awfully refreshing. The blend of flavors follows
the nose, with melon and citrus, and moves on to a crisp, clean,
refreshing finish. It's an all around summer and picnic wine, and
the spicy Riesling fruit is a great match with many cuisines, from
Asian to sweet scallops. This is the one wine I recommend serving
right out of the fridge.
| Harvest Date |
October 9 & 10, 2007 |
| Bottling Date |
March 2008 |
| Release Date |
Summer 2008 |