Merryvale Sauvignon Blanc Juliana Vineyards, 2007
| Vintage: | 2007 |
| Wine Type: | White Wine |
| Varietal: | Sauvignon Blanc |
| Appellation: | Napa Valley |
| Alcohol %: | 14.2 |
The finished wine has expressive aromatic notes of ripe honeydew melon, white peach, tangerine gelato, jasmine, ginger and honeysuckle. The mouthfeel is rich and round with a good palate weight and a long finish.
The 2007 vintage was one of the best in recent memory. After a normal bud break, the valley experienced mild weather through the growing season with a slightly cooler summer and warm September. This climate resulted in slow, even ripening with a crop just slightly smaller than normal, and the highly desired small berry size. Winemakers across the valley are very excited about the 2007 vintage.
Our Juliana Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc, 98% Sauvignon Blanc and 2% Semillon, comes from very low yielding vines. After de-stemming, we leave 70% of the fruit on the skins for a few hours to enhance the mouthfeel and improve the aromatic expression. The fruit is fermented slowly at cool temperatures (52° to 60°F) in French oak (22% one year old) barrels. Our intent is to preserve and enhance the delicate varietal nuances, while enhancing the wine with some subtle barrel notes and additional weight in the mouth.
Our favorite parings with this supple Sauvignon Blanc are mussels in a garlic-herb and white wine broth, or Bouillabaisse.