| TASTE BENCHMARKS | |||
| Profile #1 Generous, Fruity Style |
Profile #2 Full-Blown Oaky Style |
Profile #3 Complex, Generous Style |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Appearance | Pale straw. | Straw-gold. | Straw-gold. |
| Aroma | Bright pear, honey, fusil, lemon curd. | Malt, quince, pear, lemon meringue and molasses, cinnamon and toast. | A great deal of depth. Lavendar, honeysuckle, pear,lemon wax and tangerine high notes with base notes of licorice, brown sugar, and toast. |
| Flavor | Oily texture and rich but light citrus and fresh apple flavors. | Butterscotch, toffee and marmalade flavors. | Deep, full dark flavors of toffee, quince, Meyer lemon, and honey. |
| Balance | Very lush and a little sweet. | Soft acidity, rich body. | Good acidity. |
| PRODUCTION CORRELATIONS | |||
| Oenological | Little or no wood influence. May retard malolactic partially or completely. Some residual sugar. | Full malolactic, high portion of new oak barels or alternatives. | Use of oak is restrained and well integrated. |
| Viticultural | Wente clone (muscat-like aromatic notes). | Generally Wente clone is planted, with a muscat-like fruitiness. | Wente clone. Selective picking for ripe but not overripe fruit. |
| Terroir | Vineyards cooled by daily ocean breezes pulled through the Valley floor by hot air rising in the Jan Joaquin Valley. | Valley floor is cooled by daily ocean breezes pulled through the region on the way to replacing hot rising air in the San Joaquin. | Valley floor is cooled daily by ocean breezes on their way to replace hot rising air in the San Joaquin. |