VINTAGE
2000
RELEASE DATE
September 2004
AVAILABILITY
Select Markets Nationally
APPELLATIONS
65% Santa Barbara
35% Sonoma County
VINEYARDS
SONOMA COUNTY
Sterling, Little Vineyards
SANTA MARIA VALLEY
Bien Nacido Vineyards
VINTAGE: Each year, as part of our Reserve program, we select the best blocks from the best vineyards, which are then kept separate through the winemaking process until being selected, barrel-by-barrel, for the final blend. Vintage 2000 provided us with excellent fruit. The growing season began with the warmest winter on record, which gave way to a very warm spring punctuated by a record heat spell in mid June. The warm weather moved us two to three weeks ahead of schedule. A more temperate summer followed, allowing the grapes to ripen evenly. The long, drawn out harvest yielded extremely high quality fruit giving us wine with tremendous body and texture.
VINIFICATION: Four lots of grapes were culled from these three vineyards and each was matched individually to the size and shape fermenter best suited to its development. Three lots were cold soaked to extract maximum flavor with minimum tannin. Punch down and pump over routines were monitored and altered daily through the 8-17 day fermentation. The wine, still maintained in separate lots, was rushed to French oak shortly after pressing to finish secondary fermentation and was stirred weekly to intermittently build middle mouthfeel and velvety texture. The wine received a total of 16 months barrel aging. The individual lots were blended, then bottled in April 2002. Alcohol: 14.5%, Total Acidity: .62, pH: 3.64, Residual Sugar: .07. Cases produced: 1,410.
Other products in the category Benziger Family Winery / Benziger Reserve Wines:
Benziger & Imagery Winery Products
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