• 2022 Riesling
    Cluster Select Late Harvest
    Anderson Valley, Mendocino
    • (375 ml) $39.00
    • (750 ml) $79.00
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Rotten magic Recent Press

In August 2022, we crafted a story for Navarro's upcoming holiday newsletter, highlighting our 2019 Cluster Select Gewürztraminer. At the time we weren't optimistic about future production of botrytis-affected wines in a drought-stricken California. The required humidity for botrytis cinerea, the magic behind our sweet wines, seemed unlikely. Our misplaced predictions were met with an unexpected storm in mid-September 2022, causing our Riesling grapes to rot. Yet, amidst the challenge, a rainbow emerged. The botrytis intensified the grapes' sugars, acids and flavors, resulting in an exquisite sweet wine with intense peach-apple-apricot flavors, high acidity, and a scintillating finish. Winemaking is a humbling journey where nature dictates the outcome. Gold Medal winner. Best of Show.

[above] The September 2022 storms brought perfect conditions for botrytis, the noble rot, to spread rapidly. As the grapes approach ripeness botrytis shrivels the fruit, concentrating the juice and adding a pleasing apricot-honey element to the wine.


Specifications
  • Harvested: Oct. 8, 2022
  • Sugars at harvest: 38.8° Brix
  • Bottled: Mar. 3, 2023
  • Cases produced: 372
  • Alcohol: 10.7%
  • Residual sugars: 20.6%
  • Titratable acidity: 10.9 g/L
  • pH: 3.10