Winemakers Notes
2006 Stone Tree Red
The Vintage
The 2006 growing season was in general represented by a warm – dry spring which was followed with our typical hot summer. The months of September and October saw warm days and a significant drop in temperature during the night. The Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre were harvested the 29th of September.
The Vineyards
All of the Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache were produced by the Stone Tree Vineyard. Stone Tree is located 3 – 4 miles east of the town of Mattawa on the famous Wahluke Slope appellation of Washington State. The vineyard was named Stone Tree as a result of the owners continuously unearthing the petrified remains of Sequoia trees while preparing the ground for planting. This site slopes moderately to the south. The soil varies yet is usually fairly sandy with some spots possessing small gravel and chunks of petrified Sequoia. The vineyard owners also farm it. Ted and Anke Wildman have been producing superb fruit from this site. So much sothat there is a waiting list for these grapes. This couple really enjoys their work and this shows up beautifully in their fruit quality.
The Winemaking
All grapes were hand picked and sorted again prior to being destemmed and crushed into the fermentation vats. The yeast strain Premier Cuvee was used three grape varieties to conduct the primary yeast fermentation. Each was fermented to dryness. The vats were drained, the pomace gently pressed and the young wine settled for three days prior to racking to predominantly French with a small percentage of American oak barrels. Duringthe fourteen months of oak aging, the wine completed malo – lactic fermentation. This wine was lightly filtered at bottling.
The Wine
This wine is richly scented possessing beautiful complexity. The color is dark red with some purple notes. The flavors and aromas are ripe cherries, raspberries, ripe red and purple plums and spicy cracked black pepper. Nice vanilla bean notes compliments of the oak barrels also wraps around this afore mentioned juicy core of fruit flavors. The tannins are very fine grained and smooth. The acidity is just right for moderate term cellaring. This wine is a fabulous match with duck, lamb, moderately seasoned beef entrees or a very large wine glass all by itself!