Appellation:
Shenandoah Valley
Winemaker Notes:
The 2019 season was characterized by heavy rainfall and a cold winter. Several atmospheric rivers brought storms with up to 6" of rain at times and a polar vortex decended from the north and touched us here in the Sierras producing quite a few days of snow at our 2000 ft altitude. The heavy rain continued through May making for a crazy start to the growing season. Bud break was a month later than usual but a warm summer quickly allowed the grapes to catch up and in our case was a normal harvest date. We picked our fruit a little earlier than in the past to lighten our alcohol across the board, listening to our customers for lighter and brighter wines.
Our Barbera was harvested on September 9 at a Brix of 27 and pH 3.2. After crushing the grapes we removed the stems to minimize tannins and herbal flavors, fermented and punched down the wine manually over two weeks, and then gently bladder-pressed it. A subtle infusion of French oak was used. Secondary malolactic fermentation was done over six months during the winter and the wine was aged for 18 months to naturally settle prior to bottling.
Vineyard Notes:
Our Estate Barbera grows on a steep hillside at 2,000-foot altitude in the granitic and volcanic soil of our vineyard estate in the Shenandoah Valley of the Sierra Foothills. It is grafted on special drought tolerant rootstock which allows it to dig deep in this soil for water and we dry farm it. It thrives in the warm daytime breezes from the Central Valley and cool Sierra evenings, a 30 degree swing in temperature, a climate similar to the best growing region in Italy for this grape.
