Estate Grown, Lodi

The 2007 vintage was very successful for us, with a long cool spring and milder summer temperatures.  The pay off of this excellent harvest is to be experienced in this delicious wine from Peirano Estate Vineyards.  This was our 1^st harvest of Malbec and the vineyard site for this varietal has been specially tended to over the past 5 years and has benefited from the use of techniques like deficit irrigation, crop thinning and leaf pulling to insure full and proper ripening.  The Lodi appellation is an ideal growing area for this varietal and presents a climate much more in tune with that of Malbecs’ most popular growing area, the high and dry Mendoza region of Argentina, then other areas of California.  Here in Lodi, long warm days are moderated by cool temperatures sliding down the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range during the evenings.  The fruit was patiently selected and hand harvested into small bins to maintain health and quality.

Winemaker Notes:

The carefully handled grape bunches are immediately inoculated with yeast that helps retain the fruits’ natural character while extracting a good amount of tannin during an even fermentation.  The 2007 Malbec was a much smaller lot of grapes compared to our core wine production, so the fruit is handled more gently and a lot of attention is paid to the wine as it develops.  For our red wines we use a combination of rotary fermentation as well as static fermentation (tank fermentation), because we can get different characteristics from each.  The rotary fermentation is typically short and monitored closely so that the wine never gets bitter or over extracted.  After completion of malolactic fermentation the wine is racked and then aged for 12 months in a combination of new (20%) and used French and American oak barrels. 

Tasting Notes:

The color of this wine is a vibrant deep purple/garnet.  The aromas are spicy and peppery with hints of red hots, strawberries and cloves.  The flavors are forward with bing cherries, dark fruit, balanced acidity and moderate tannins.  The wine is ready to drink, but will continue to age over the next 5 to 8 years. 

Awards Include:

GOLD Medal             Orange County Fair Wine Competition

Silver Medal                San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competiton

Silver Medal                National Women’s Wine Competition

Silver Medal                Lodi International Wine Awards