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This is a small lot wine that we picked in late October in what was one a fairly normal year. The fruit was in great shape with some dimpling indicating full ripeness. We hand picked the rows we had selected at dawn, with, a faint new moon waxing in the east. The fruit was cool and the juice in the tank was 25+ brix. The other fruit chemistry was also well balanced with a 3.60 pH and 0.55 TA. We destemmed and cold soaked for 48 hours before fermenting in open top fermentors. The punchdown regime was twice daily. Claude inoculated with D-254 yeast. Our barrel blend was 50% 2nd<\/sup> use American and 50% 2nd<\/sup> use French so as not to overwhelm the fruit. The wine was in barrel 30 months.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We find that the wine is opulent in red and black fruits with a full body for sipping alone or supping with meals. The finish lingers nicely without being overwhelmed in tannins. We feel this is a very nice, well balanced wine. We have had wonderful feedback from friends and my associates in the industry.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Buon Giorno, \u00a0 Mike\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 TateDog@<\/strong> pacbell.net<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 50 cases This is a small lot wine that we picked in late October in what was one a fairly normal year. The fruit was in great shape with some dimpling indicating full ripeness. We hand picked the rows … Continue reading