Austin Hope Chenin Blanc 2021
Quickly becoming a favorite, our Chenin Blanc displays a light golden color. On the nose, aromas of honeydew melon and orange blossom lead into flavors of fresh honeycomb, stone fruit and hint of citrus. The finish has a delicate roundness from the sur-lie aging yet maintains a freshness that makes it a fantastic food wine and would pair beautifully with a strong blue cheese.
Vineyard Notes:
The 2021 growing season was very typical through early spring. Early summer through harvest gave us some unexpected heatwaves but plenty of mild weather in between resulting in a slight delay of harvest but mature fruit and flavors. We source this old vine Chenin Blanc from a vineyard in the Paso Robles Highlands District. Planted in 1972 by a ranch family that has grazed and farmed the land since 1875, this old vine Chenin Blanc has stood the test of time. These vines are hearty and deep rooted in sandy loam.
Winemaker Notes:
After harvesting, grapes for the Austin Hope Chenin Blanc were whole-cluster pressed into stainless steel tanks for settling. The juice was then racked off its heavy lees into barrels and tanks for fermentation 65% of the juice was barrel fermented in a mix of new and neutral barrels, while the other 25% was fermented in stainless steel. The barrel fermented portion saw 3-5 months of sur-lie aging and during that time, the barrels were stirred monthly to add to the creamy nature of the wine. After the final blend was assembled, the wine was gently crossflow filtered before bottling.
-
Vintage
2021
-
Varietal
Chenin Blanc
-
Appellation
Paso Robles
-
Alcohol
13.5%
