Twisted Oak 2005 Verdelho, Silvaspoons Vineyard

Tasting Notes:
“Mandrake? You listening? Purity of Essence. That’s what this Verdelho has. You’ll never catch a Commie drinking this Verdelho. Why, Mandrake? Because it’s full of exotic aromas of bananas, citrus, lilac. And, it is bursting with crisp, fresh fruit flavors of apricots and honeydew melon. Mandrake, this is the purest expression of fruit from a vineyard as you will ever taste. Drink it now, like a man!”

Vineyard & Varietal Notes
Silvaspoons Vineyard is located Northeast of Galt in the newly recognized Alta Mesa district of the Lodi AVA. This Portuguese white grape is an early ripener with great natural acidity very reminiscent of a Sauvignon Blanc. The berries are light greenish to golden in color but the skins are quite thin, yielding a white grape juice that is almost pale straw in color.

Vintage & Production Notes
The 2005 growing season started with an early bloom followed by a very wet spring. When the rain finally stopped in mid-June, temperatures came up very fast. July was extremely hot and many vineyards shut down for the better part of the month. Finally, August rolled around and the weather cooled down dramatically. At veraison (the technical term for the onset of berry ripening), temperatures stayed cool and the fruit ripened slowly. To achieve full maturation of fruit without sacrificing natural acidity, we harvested late in August.

Upon reaching the winery, the fruit was whole cluster pressed to remove the clear juice from the skins and seeds. After pressing, the wine was inoculated with a Spanish yeast strain and the yeast monitored throughout fermentation to ensure optimal yeast viability. The juice was fermented in a stainless steel tank at 54 degrees. After 18 days and near the end of primary fermentation, the wine was racked off of the lees to another tank and held at a very low temperature. The wine was bottled in early November of that same year to capture the “freshness” of the fruit flavors.

Food Pairings
By itself! as an aperitif
most seafood - clam chowder - oysters and other aphrodesiacs - creamed SPAM on toast

Awards
- Orange County Fair - 4 Star Gold Medal Award
- Orange County Fair - Best of Show
- California State Fair - Best of Class, Lodi

Technical Notes:

Varietal:	100% Verdelho from Silvaspoons Vineyard
Alcohol:	13.1%
Titratable Acid:	0.64
pH:	3.37
Volatile Acid:	0.052
Brix at Harvest:	23.6
Aging before bottling:	2 months
Oak program:	100% stainless steel (that would be... NO OAK!)