1998 Los Carneros Marsanne

1998 Los Carneros Marsanne Los Carneros wine label CLINE CELLARS
Technical Notes
1998 Los Carneros Marsanne
HARVEST DATE: October 25, 1998
BRIX AT HARVEST: 23.8°
TOTAL ACIDITY: 0.56 g/100ml
FINAL PH: 3.58
RESIDUAL SUGAR: 0.049g/100ml
ALCOHOL: 14.0%
SUGGESTED RETAIL: $18

VINTAGE NOTES
"Patience is a virtue", 1998 will be remembered as the vintage of patience. Compared to the large and early harvest of the previous year, 1998 would be considered a light and late harvest. Infact, the 1998 harvest was two to three weeks later then normal and four to four-and-half weeks later then 1998! Fortunately a warm October pushed all of our cool climate and later maturing varietals over the top and thus enabling us to harvest fully ripe grapes, especially for our Los Carneros designated wines. The long cool growing season was perfect for our Los Carneros ranch. We produced balanced wines; acid, fruit and sugar were all in harmony.

VINEYARDS
Our 5 acres of Marsanne, is located on the flats in front of Cline Cellars, in Sonoma County's famed Los Carneros district. Planted on phylloxera-resistant rootstock. Marsanne has found a favorable environment in the shallow, gravely loam soils adjacent to the entrance of the winery. Howling afternoon winds that characterize the far southern end of the Carneros mitigate much of the summer heat, allowing us to harvest luscious, ripe fruit while maintaining elegant acidity and beautiful mineral nuances. This unique interplay of terroir and micro-climate produces a Marsanne in the vein of the northern Rhône's best whites, showcasing powerful yet elegant fruit.

FERMENTATION AND AGING
The fruit for our '98 Marsanne was 100% whole-cluster pressed to limit extraction of phenolics. The juice was cold-settled overnight and underwent a pre-fermentation oxidization--browning the remaining astringent compounds, which fall out of suspension during stainless steel fermentation. After racking the juice off its sediment, we inoculated with selected yeast strains from the Rhône Valley of France and cold-fermented at 55°F until dryness. We chose to block malolactic fermentation in this wine, preserving mouth-watering acidity. The wine was aged two to three months in a complement of French and American oak barrels --approximately 10% new--to round out flavor. In 1998 we have chosen to blend into our 11% Roussanne, lending the wine significantly more power and finesse, rich aromas of orange essence and hazelnut and a firm structure.

WINEMAKER'S COMMENTS
Marsanne is an intriguing Rhône varietal and is exciting to work with; responding particularly well to gentle, modern winemaking techniques. Its flavors tend towards delicacy with its crisp acidity enhanced by cold-fermentation. We were able to blend in an additional Roussanne as is the tradition of the northern Rhône's greatest whites. Lightly chilled, our 1998 Marsanne will beautifully accompany shellfish - especially raw oysters with lemon--and richer dishes such as rabbit in a white wine and butter sauce.

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