Cotes d' Oakley-Vin Rouge Wine Label Cline Cellars
1995 Cotes d' Oakley
Vin Rouge
Contra Costa County

Technical Notes
1995 Cotes d' Oakley- Vin Rouge
HARVEST DATE: 28 August to 5 October
BRIX AT HARVEST: 23.5
TOTAL ACIDITY: 0.62 g/100ml
FINAL pH: 3.60
RESIDUAL SUGAR: 0.22 g/100ml
ALCOHOL: 13.%


VINTAGES NOTES
1995 was an exceptionally long growing season for California's Contra Costa County AVA. A very wet winter and late rains allowed us to continue the practice of dry-farming our Contra Costa vineyards without risk of water-stress, keeping yields extremely low. Grapes ripened evenly during the warm summer months, preserving intense varietal flavor without a sudden drop in acidity. Harvest was particularly late, and the added hang time lent our wines an incredible level of concentration.
VINEYARDS
Cotes d' Oakley Vin Rouge is Cline Cellars' Californian version of the classic Southern Cotes du Rhone blend, incorporating the Rhone cepages Carignane, Mourvedre, Syrah, Cinsault and Alicante Bouschet and the signature Californian varietal Zinfandel. The grapes for this wine come from Cline's extensive holdings in Contra Costa County at the confluence of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers, where sandy soils, dry-farmed vineyards, head-pruned 100 year old vines and an unique cooling band of air that blows in nightly from San Pablo Bay combine to create an environment perfectly suited to the warm weather varietals of France's Rhone Valley. Yields are restricted to a minuscule 1.5 to 2 tons per acre, producing wines of uncommon varietal richness.
FERMENTATION AND AGING
Cotes d' Oakley Vin Rouge is intended to be Cline Cellars' earliest drinking red. To achieve this end, grapes are entirely destemmed with, in 1995, approximately 30% of the vintage undergoing whole berry fermentation. Aging takes place in a combination of 75% large French oak uprights and 25% 60 gallon oak barrels, which lends the wine a fine-grained tannin structure and only the faintest oak influence.
WINEMAKER'S COMMENTS
Cline Cellars' 1995 Cotes d' Oakley Vin Rouge is styled along the lines of a lighter Southern Cotes du Rhone; 1995 vintage has produced one of the greatest Cotes d' Oakley of all time, showing ripe red fruit aromas and an intriguing note of fresh herbes provecales. Here, at the winery, we enjoy Vin Rouge year round with everything from Mexican food to hearty pasta dishes; its fleshy berry flavors are the ideal complement to grilled foods and spicy cuisine.

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