C A R L I S L E O P E N I N G L E T T E R G
A N G O F P O U R ' S F E A T U R E
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The Vintage After so many wonderful vintages in the ‘90s, 1998 was certainly a challenging year! First, there was El Niño. This climatic condition led to abnormally high spring rainfall. The constant moisture and mild temperatures created heavy disease pressures in the vineyards. Leaf removal around grape clusters was one technique used by growers to alleviate some of these pressures. Unfortunately though, when the rain finally stopped, we had several heat waves. With the fruit so exposed, many vineyards experienced severe sunburn. Then, there was September. This is the month that usually provides the final "oomph" to push everything to ripeness. Although September’s weather started nicely, the last two weeks were cool and foggy with highs barely reaching the low 60’s. Growers and winemakers wrung their hands nervously, wondering if the grapes would ever fully ripen. Several wineries lowered their sugar requirements and started picking. A huge storm was forecasted for the first weekend of October. Talk about a nail-biter! Well… like most Hollywood movies, the story had a happy ending. The huge storm never materialized. The weather turned warm and dry and remained so through most of October. You could almost hear a huge collective sigh of relief from growers and winemakers alike. For Carlisle, all our fruit was picked in October under clear skies. Achieving physiological ripeness (as opposed to analytical) was not an issue for us. All our wines reflect this in their deeply concentrated flavors and aromas. The Wines Below are some brief details and impressions regarding our 1998 wines. All wines will be bottled unfined and unfiltered in January 2000 and will be available for shipping shortly afterwards in March. ’98 Sonoma County Zinfandel
Cases Produced: 177 Release Price: $20 Sourced from several venerable old-vine vineyards in Sonoma County, the grapes for this wine were harvested between October 2nd and October 23rd at an average of 24.7 brix. Cold soaks, frequent and vigorous punch-downs, and the use of cultured and indigenous yeast fermentations were some of the techniques we used to maximize flavors and aromas. While enjoyable now for its intense red cherry and chocolate aromas, this wine’s firm acidity suggests several additional years of development. It should be at its best 3 to 5 years from the vintage date. ’98 Russian River Valley Zinfandel
Cases Produced: 118 Release Price: $25 From an extremely low yielding vineyard planted in 1926, the grapes for this wine were picked on October 7th at 26 brix. Visually, this was one of the most thrilling lots of the vintage. After a 5-day cold soak, the must resembled black-purple tar! We knew right away that this would be an especially concentrated, rich zinfandel. After an indigenous fermentation and 18 days on the skins, the wine was gently pressed into a mix of new (40%) and used French oak barrels. Although we prefer to consume our zinfandels young, we feel this wine has the structure and balance to age gracefully for up to 5 years. We are particularly fond of its peppery, ripe blackberry finish. ’98 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel
Cases Produced: 237 Release Price: $25 From our Dry Creek Valley source, 109-year-old vines and low yields combined to produce some very ripe zinfandel in 1998. Excited by the intense fruit flavors but concerned that the elevated sugar levels could cause a problematic fermentation, we also picked some flavorful, though less ripe, petite sirah from an adjacent block and did a "field blend" in the fermentor. The decision paid off and after a long, moderate fermentation, the wine finished dry. This is an exceptionally rich, decadent zinfandel with dark color, low acidity, and copious black cherry aromas and flavors. We find it to be a classic example of Dry Creek Valley zinfandel. It should be at its best 2 to 4 years from the vintage date. ’98 Dry Creek Valley Petite Sirah
Cases Produced: 75 Release Price: $18 From the same ranch as our Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel, we’re unsure how much longer these vines will exist. Planted in 1889, high up on the east side of Dry Creek Valley, these vines do not produce enough grapes to make them economically viable. Furthermore, in a long, cool growing season like 1998, the vines struggle particularly hard to ripen their small crop. Nevertheless, on October 18th we picked 1 ton of fully ripened fruit. A long cold soak, frequent punch-downs, and 35 days on the skins were just a few of the techniques we used to extract everything the grapes had to offer. We found that the inclusion of 19% zinfandel enhanced both mouthfeel and body. Very dark and very brooding, this wine shows a deep core of blackberry fruit highlighted by notes of white pepper. It should be at its best 3 to 5 years from the vintage date. ’98 Russian River Valley Two Acres
Cases Produced: 78 Release Price: $32 Talk about a labor of love! This wine is quite special to us as it represents hundreds of hours spent renovating an old vine two-acre vineyard in the Russian River Valley. Part of the challenge of renovating this vineyard (beyond the poison oak and snakes!) was simply identifying and marking all the different varieties. Doing so, however, enabled us to optimally pick and ferment each variety separately. Inspired by some of the lusty old-vine mourvèdre blends of South Australia, we assembled the final blend for this wine the following spring. With aromas of earth, truffle, cardamom, pepper, pine, orange peel, and rose petal, this is an extremely complex, exotic wine! Although the wine has considerable weight and viscosity on the palate, it retains a remarkable sense of balance and grace. In a recent tasting of several high-end Australian wines such as Grange and Astralis, several experienced tasters declared a barrel sample of this to be the best wine of the night! For Information On Obtaining These Wines Please Contact:
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