A blend of 59% Petit Manseng and 41% Vidal Blanc. We gotta be honest, it looks like Sauternes. Like someone took some honey, added some marigold and smashed ‘em together into a magical yellow nectar. With a face like that, it has a lot to live up to. The nose does not disappoint here and it's exploding out of the glass. Sweet pear, lychee, jasmine, honeycomb… we could go on. All that sounds like you’re in for a terribly unbalanced glass of high octane fruit juice but NAY!!! The palate, while certainly having texture, is quite balanced with a brilliant acidity that cleans up any lagging fruit elements. Careful of letting this get too warm as it will develop a lot of richness. Bravo! Dear Ben, Bravo! 95 cases produced.
FRUIT SOURCES
Sherman Ridge vineyard in Woodstock, grower Sunset Hills
WINEMAKING
These two grapes were fermented together in large (500 to 600L), neutral puncheons. The alcoholic fermentation lasted a full 16 months, during which time the wine went through malolactic. It was bottled unfined/unfiltered. As this wine evolves and our access to Riesling diminishes, this year we embraced a vineyard co-ferment of Shenandoah Valley Petit Manseng and Vidal blanc from Sherman Ridge. The Vidal moderates the alcohol but steps back a bit aromatically, making this a Manseng driven wine.
CHEMISTRY
pH: 3.48
TA: 5.7 g/L
Free SO2 at bottling: 6 ppm
Alcohol: 13.9% abv
RS: 2.35 g/L
Malic Acid: 0.06 g/L
Acetic acid at bottling: 0.43 g/L
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