1996 Cotes d' Oakley Vin Gris Cline Cellars
1996 Cotes d' Oakley
Vin Gris
Contra Costa County

Technical Notes
1996 Cotes d' OakleyVin Gris
Contra Costa County
HARVEST DATE: 30 & 31 August
BRIX AT HARVEST: 23.2 to 23.3
TOTAL ACIDITY: 0.71g/100ml
FINAL pH: 3.51
RESIDUAL SUGAR: 0.025g/100ml
ALCOHOL: 13.5%


VINTAGES NOTES
1996 was an extremely warm and early vintage in California's Contra Costa County AVA. Several weeks of 100 degree plus weather led to early ripening and picking in certain blocks as early as the first week in August. Amazingly, wines from the '96 vintage show explosive fruit and stunning complexity, as yields were restricted to a mere pittance, concentrating flavor elements in the fruit. In particular, grapes showed a high skin to juice ratio, ensuring plenty of robust flavors and aromas. 1996 will be known as a near ideal vintage for the Rhone varietals and Zinfandel that Cline has become famous for.
VINEYARDS
Much in the same way as the great rose wine vineyards of Southern France's Tavel and Lirac, Cline's Contra Costa County Mourvedre vineyards are populated by age-old head-trained vines planted to nutrient-poor, sandy soils. The unique Oakley terrior has proved ideal for growing Mourvedre grapes rich in the fresh fruit and mineral character essential to great dry rose. A singular cooling band of air that flows from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers helps moderate the otherwise hot climate in Oakley and maintains a superb balance of acids often lacking in fruit from other warm areas. Careful vineyard management and strict dry-farming allows us to restrict yields to a meager 2 tons per acre, further enhancing concentration of flavors in the fruit.
FERMENTATION AND AGING
1996 has turned out to be an ideal vintage for our Vin Gris program. The wine was produced using the saigne method, bleeding must for the rose from tanks of Mourvedre that had been allowed to macerate on their skins from 1 1/2 to 2 days. Must was inoculated with Cotes-de-Blancs yeast and fermented at cool temperatures in stainless steel and 132 gallon puncheons. Racked from its lees midway through primary fermentation, the 1996 Vin Gris finished to dryness slowly, preserving freshness and intense fruit. Minimal handling prior to bottling helps maintain the liveliness and fresh fruit we seek in our Cotes d'Oakley Vin Gris.
WINEMAKER'S COMMENTS
Cotes d'Oakley Vin Gris has been styled after the Rhone Valley's greatest dry roses, notably Tavel and Lirac. Exhibiting intense aromas of cherries, strawberries, earth and fresh herbes de provence, this rose is intended for early consumption. I am particularly pleased with the 1996 vintage, as it shows astounding freshness, fine acidity and an appealing succulence of fruit...all in a perfectly dry format. I like to enjoy it as an elegant aperitif and with all types of light fare including cheeses, fruits and poultry. The 1996 Cotes d' Oakley Vin Gris is the ideal wine for the warm days of summer, when rich reds are too cumbersome for the heat. Enjoy!!!

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