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TECHNICAL NOTES
100% Mourvedre Sugar at Pressing: 360 g/l Residual Sugar: 124 g/l 14.5% Alcohol by Volume 200 375ml Cases Produced
FOOD PAIRINGS
REVIEWS
HOW IS IT DRINKING?
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The 2006 Tablas Creek Vineyard Vin de Paille Sacrérouge is Tablas Creek's third bottling of this non-traditional application (to red grapes) of an ancient Mediterranean technique for producing dessert wines. Ripe grape bunches are carefully laid down on straw-covered benches in our greenhouses, and allowed to dehydrate in the sun. When the grapes reach the desired concentration (usually in about 3 weeks) they are crushed by foot and fermented in small open-top fermenters using only native yeasts. When they reach their desired level of extraction, we press them and move the juice to oak barrels to continue fermenting until it reaches an alcohol level where the sweetness of the wine is in balance with its acids, tannins, and mineral characteristics. As with all our wines, the grapes for our Vin de Paille were grown on our 120-acre certified organic estate vineyard. The 2006 Vin de Paille Sacrerouge is made from 100% Mourvedre grapes. We also made a a white Vin de Paille in 2006: a blend of Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Roussanne and Marsanne. The 2006 vintage was a study of contrasts, with a cold, wet start, a very hot early summer, a cool late summer and a warm, beautiful fall. Ample rainfall in late winter gave the grapevines ample groundwater, and produced relatively generous crop sizes. The relatively cool late-season temperatures resulted in a delayed but unhurried harvest, wines with lower than normal alcohols, strong varietal character, and good acids. The Mourvèdre was harvested throughout late October and completed the vintage on November 9th. The grapes for the Sacrerouge were among our last harvested, and spent much of the month of November in our greenhouses. The wine, after pressing, was aged in four new French oak barrels for 20 months before being bottled in May of 2008. The 2006 Vin de Paille Sacrérouge has a sweet nose of dates, plums, and figs, with dark cherries, cassis and chocolate in the mouth. The finish is sweet and long with lingering fig, chocolate, and mineral notes.
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