2022 Sonoma Valley "Pagani Ranch" Alicante Bouschet
94% Alicante Bouschet
6% Zinfandel
In this early, very warm growing season, we picked our old-vine Alicante block at Pagani Ranch on September 17th (earliest ever!) at a textbook 24.6 Brix. Fully destemmed, the must was cold-soaked at 52° F for five days before inoculation with an Italian isolate of yeast from a Raboso ferment in Veneto. After a slow and steady fermentation and 27 days on the skins, the wine was pressed to all French oak, only 14% new. The following spring, 6% of our Sonoma County Zin (which is nearly 50% Pagani Ranch Zin) was blended into the Alicante to add volume to the midpalate. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Tasting Note:
Medium-dark to dark ruby-red. Berries galore greet the nose along with black licorice, sweet tobacco, and blood orange. The wine enters medium-full bodied with plenty of black and red berry fruit and a just a smidgen of freshly tilled earth. Like most of our 2022s, this wine is smile-inducing, exhibiting a fresh, juicy, and joyful character. Perfectly balanced, this should age well. Enjoy from 2027 through 2040, perhaps even longer. (MRO - 01/16/25)