I've known Winemaker/Owner Jim Moore for eight years now - about
half as long as he's spent producing wines from the grapes of
Northern Italy. Jim fell in love with these wines while serving as
Robert Mondavi's liaison with the Frescobaldi family, during
Mondavi's joint venture that helped launch the Cal-Ital movement in
the 90's. Jim's passion for Italian wine (and food) grew with each
visit, and he eventually left Mondavi to launch his own brand of
wines based on Italian grapes grown in Northern California.
Tasting Notes
The first thing you'll notice about this wine is it's floral nose,
rich with lively aromas of citrus blossoms, mandarin and
cantaloupe. In the mouth the flavors repeat the of melon hinted at
by the aroma, and mixes that with exotic tropical fruits like
mango, papaya and star fruit. This fruity wine is virtually dry -
that is, the residual sugar from the ripe grapes is a scant 1.8
grams per liter. A perfect sipping wine for when you don't want a
lot of alcohol.
Winemaker's Notes
- 100% 2009 vintage
- 100% Lodi appellation
- 100% Bella Vigna Vineyard
- Bottled in Mar 2010
- 11.9% alcohol
- Acidity: pH 3.39, TA 5.5 g/l & RS 1.8 g/l
We harvested these grapes in early October and at full maturity
- yet while still at a relatively low brix, making this an
interestingly aromatic, expressive white wine with lower
alcohol.
It was cool-fermented (temperatures were reduced to preserve the
higher aromatics of this beautiful fruit) in tanks. We used a
fruit-enhancing strain of yeast and no malo-lactic conversion.
After fermentation, it was racked twice, followed by a light
fining, another racking and then a final filtration prior to
bottling.
