| 
 Tasting
Notes: This is dessert! At
11 percent residual sugar, this wine is a bit sweeter than usual and
unbelievably delicious. Light gold in color, it has a distinctive
caramel quality in the nose and a smooth tactile feel in the mouth.
Its flavors are reminiscent of honey and caramel. Inspired by the
Italian passito-style dessert wine, we picked the grapes at 25% sugar
and laid them out in the sun on wooden prune trays for ten days. After
this dehydration period, we crushed them at 37% sugar and watched
with pleasure when the golden liquid poured out from the press. With
such a high sugar content, this wine should delight all of us for
years to come.
 |
|
Farming:
|
dry-farmed |
|
Age of vines:
|
45 years |
|
Appellation:
|
Napa Valley |
|
Varietal:
|
100% Semillon |
|
Grapes:
|
30% grown at Stony
Hill Vineyard; 70% grown at Two Dog Vineyard in Calistoga |
|
Harvest date:
|
10/23/98 - 10/30/98 |
|
Dehydration time:
|
10 days drying
in sun on wooden prune trays before crushing |
|
Fermentation time:
|
21 days in old
French oak barrels |
|
Aging time:
|
6 months in oak |
|
Bottling date:
|
3/26/99 |
|
Total Acidity:
|
.70% |
|
Residual Sugar:
|
11.00% |
|
Alcohol:
|
12% |
|
Aging Potential:
|
10 years + |
|
Cases produced:
|
77, each containing
24 - .375 ml bottles |
|
Release date:
|
9/7/99 |
|
Price at winery:
|
$12.00 per .375
ml bottle |
|
|
|
|
1997
Chardonnay | 1998
SHV Chardonnay
1998 White Riesling | 1998
Gewurztraminer | 1997 Semillon de Soleil
|
