Prior vintages of
Deep End Gewürztraminer have been produced primarily from vines in the uppermost block in our
West Hill vineyard, where the soil is thinner and the vines typically bear a lighter but more intensely flavored crop. In this vintage, a portion of the wine is from the
West Hill vineyard, but the lion's share comes from the uppermost block of the
East Hill vineyard. Since they both share the top of the same hill, they share similar soils and the vines on both upper blocks bear lighter crops. However, they have different exposures and the weather during each particular vintage determines which field we pick for our best Gewürz. Alsatian Gewürztraminer wines are typically balanced with some residual grape sugars and this bottling follows in that tradition. We ferment and age all our Gewürztraminer
sur lie in refrigerated French oak ovals and most casks are allowed to ferment dry. Wines destined for the
Deep End bottling are tasted daily when the grape sugars are under 1% and the fermentation becomes sluggish—perhaps 0.033% in sugar reduction per day.
Manuel about to place a high-pressure washer into an oval. Before we rack juice into the ovals for fermentation, we pre-wash the inside. After the wine is racked out for bottling, we pre-wash again and then a person enters the oval to remove any grape tartrates or other particles.
Manuel hanging up a freshly-washed fermentation trap to dry. During fermentation a trap is placed in the bunghole of each large oak oval to allow the CO2 to escape. The cylinder in the middle of the trap holds water to keep flies out but the CO2 bubbles through the water.
When the cuvée tastes balanced, the refrigeration is turned on full-tilt to stop the fermentation and then the wine ages
sur lie for eight months. After several months in cask, the wine has clarified and is tasted again for balance. If we find the wine a little sweet, we add dry Gewürz to balance; if it's too dry, we add unfermented juice that we've kept frozen as
süss reserve. We only produce
Deep End Gewürztraminer in exceptional vintages and unfortunately there is no 2020
Deep End. Rose petal-clove fragrances introduce mouth-filling grapefruit-lychee flavors with a rich texture and long finish.
Gold Medal winner. Best of Class.