We've changed Navarro's recipe for Navarrouge several times since our first vintage in 1992. In 2008, we made the decision to make the dominant variety Zinfandel, with Syrah as the second most important variety. We set out to find growers with old-vine Zin and Syrah vines and, if the vineyards looked promising, we purchased their fruit for the base-wine in our red table wine program through 2012.
Ted having fun. The reason Navarro harvests at night is because we prefer to begin fermentation when the grapes are cold, 59°F or lower. The growers we deal with are small family operations and sometimes they have to pick during the day, delivering deliciously ripe grapes that are warmer than we prefer. Our solution is to add dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide seen here vaporizing) to the warm must to lower the temperature. After the dry ice has chilled the grapes, the must already has a little red color.
Jim Klein inspecting Zinfandel vines after pruning. The wine produced from grapes grown on mature Zinfandel vines constitutes the base wine for this bottling. The final blend is 40% Zinfandel, 27% Pinot Noir, 16% Grenache, 13% Carignane, 3% Syrah & 1% Mourvèdre.
In the spring of 2013, we decided to make a change. We were pleased with Syrah's black cherry flavors but the tannins were a little too aggressive since we think Navarrouge should be easy-to-drink in its youth. Navarro now has almost 50 acres of Pinot Noir vineyards, and although they are our most expensive grape variety, with their softer tannin structure and red cherry flavors, they make an excellent Syrah replacement. Zinfandel and Pinot Noir constitute 67% of this vintage with four other varieties making up the balance, in order of importance: Grenache, Carignane, Syrah and Mourvèdre. Each lot was fermented in open-top tanks then racked to seasoned French oak barrels to finish malolactic fermentation and age for 10 months. In late July 2014, Navarro's tasting panel decided on the final blend; the Navarrouge was bottled a month later in August. Medium bodied backed with soft tannins and flavors suggesting plum, blackberry and cranberry. Gold Medal winner. Best of Class.
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The reason Navarro harvests at night is because we prefer to begin fermentation when the grapes are cold, 59°F or lower. The growers we deal with are small family operations and sometimes they have to pick during the day, delivering deliciously ripe grapes that are warmer than we prefer. Our solution is to add dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide seen here vaporizing) to the warm must to lower the temperature. After the dry ice has chilled the grapes, the must already has a little red color. ![[below]](/images/buttons/arrow_down.gif){kind=icon}
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The wine produced from grapes grown on mature Zinfandel vines constitutes the base wine for this bottling. The final blend is 40% Zinfandel, 27% Pinot Noir, 16% Grenache, 13% Carignane, 3% Syrah & 1% Mourvèdre.