Cline Cellars
1995 Viognier
Los Carneros
Technical Notes
1995 Viognier
Contra Costa County
HARVEST DATE: 26 August to 3 October
BRIX AT HARVEST: 23.2 to 23.3
TOTAL ACIDITY: 0.71g/100ml
FINAL pH: 3.53
RESIDUAL SUGAR: 0.02g/100ml
ALCOHOL: 13.5%
VINTAGES NOTES
1995 was exceptionally long growing season for California's Contra Costa County AVA. A very wet winter and late rains allowed us to dry farm 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 hand time lent our wines an incredible level of concentration.
VINEYARDS
Viognier originates in the Northern Rhone Valley where it is fashioned in minuscule quantities into the rich and highly prized wines of Condrieu and Chateau Grillet. Recent appreciation in California for this varietal stems, largely, from its incredible depth of rich flavor and its exotic perfumed aromas. Our Contra Costa Viognier vineyards are planted in extremely soils at the confluence of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers, where long hot summer days are balanced by a narrow corridor of cool air that flows in from San Pablo Bay. These dry-farmed vineyards have proven ideal for ripening Viognier while preserving its low natural acidity and highly perfumed character.
FERMENTATION AND AGING
All or our Viognier is hand harvested and gently pressed. We fermented the 1995 vintage in a combination of new and used small French and American oak and aged it on its lees for just over five months. The fusion of ultra-ripe fruit and barrel fermentation has given the 1995 Viognier an incredibly silky mouthfeel and fine structure, preserving meanwhile the wonderful aromas of tropical fruit, spice and flowers.
WINEMAKER'S COMMENTS
Cline Cellar's 1995 Viognier is a luscious and concentrated wine with ripe fruit character reminiscent of honeyed apricot and exotic spices and flowers. Here, at the winery, we enjoy Viognier by itself as an aperitif or paired rich spicy appetizers, such as lobster tails in a gingered butter sauce. Cline Cellars' 1995 Viognier will of the most hedonistic drinking pleasure in the first 2 to 3 years of its life.
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