Verdelho is a white grape variety which originated in Sicily and
introduced to the Madeira Islands in the Fifteenth Century. It
later expanded into the Douro Valley of northern Portugal and then
to the Anjou region in the Loire Valley of western France. Verdelho
is the dominant white grape of Portuguese famous wines known as
Madeira.
Verdelho is a moderately vigorous vine that produces small
clusters of small oval berries. The grapes ripen early but are
prone to powdery mildew and susceptible to frost. This is the third
year that I am making Verdelho and every year we experienced severe
frost damage while adjacent blocks planted with other grape
varieties showed no signs of frost damage.
The characteristics of Verdelho wines vary according to the
climate, growing conditions, and the wine-maker’s art. The wine is
usually aromatic with high acidity. Its palate can be rich,
herbaceous, spicy and nutty with tropical fruit flavors.
This Verdelho was made from grapes that came from a vineyard in
the Shenandoah Valley. We pressed the whole clusters and fermented
the juice at a very cold temperature of around 55 degrees F that
slowed down the fermentation to about 30 days. This wine has not
undergone malolactic fermentation to preserve the natural
crispness.
This Verdelho is a crisp wine with very floral and intense
tropical flavors with hints of honeysuckle and lime and a
substantives mouth-feel which carry all the way to the finish
adding some herbal notes. This wine is perfect for drinking in the
patio in a summer day or to accompany a variety of foods from
salads, seafood, cheeses or even smoked meat.
Varietal Content: 100% Verdelho, Shenandoah Valley,
California
Bottling Date: December 22, 2008
Cases Produced: 168
Alcohol: 13.7
pH: 3.3
Residual sugar: 0.4%
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