2014 Acorn Hill® Alegría Vineyards

Tasting Notes

This elegant wine opens with aromas of fresh raspberries and dark chocolate. Beautifully aged, with seamlessly integrated tannins, and hints of oak. Smooth cherry, boysenberry, and a minerally note on the palate make this medium-bodied wine a nice accompaniment for most cuisines.

Winemaker's Notes

ACORN HILL is our version of a Super Tuscan. It is a unique blend that combines the vibrancy of Sangiovese and the structure of Syrah. We planted the varieties side-by-side on the beautiful hill you can view from our tasting room. Viognier, Canaiolo, and Mammolo are inter-planted with the main varieties. The wine’s “mineral” notes evoke the rocky clay-loam soils of our hillside. 2014’s vintage began with a dry January, followed by spring rains and benign summer weather that brought us to harvest a month earlier than usual. Attention to detail in the vineyard (hand-thinning, leaf removal, etc.) kept the vines in balance, and our open trellis system gave the grapes the sun exposure needed for color and flavor development. We hand-harvested the Syrah and Sangiovese separately this year, letting native yeasts begin the fermentation after a three-day cold soak, then adding a Rhone yeast (D-254) to the Syrah and a Brunello yeast (BM45) to the Sangiovese. We combined the two lots immediately after malolactic fermentation to age in select barrels from Billon, Remond, and Marchive. We always hold this limited production wine for extended bottle aging. After 18 months in barrel, the wine spent another four years in bottle before release—resulting in an exceptionally smooth and well-integrated wine.

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