The bouquet is a complex symphony of flinty slate, fresh green apple, beeswax and white spring flowers. The palate is smooth and creamy with delectable flavors of honey, pineapple and guava leaving a lingering finish with a kiss of oak.
Owned by the Eakle family Pope Valley Winery is located in the northeastern hills just beyond Howell Mountain in Napa Valley. Our two estate vineyards with a combined 80 planted acres, at the winery and our Eakle Ranch vineyard, yield rich distinctive wines characteristic of the terroir. Our wines showcase the mineral complexity of the soils -Pleasanton loam and Bressa-Dibble complex. Pope Valley is a warm growing climate with cool evenings and mornings which allow the grapes to hang on the vine long enough to ripen to their fullest potential, yet cool enough at night to develop complex varietal aromas. Pope Valley wines express the historic character that established Napa Valley as one of the premier growing regions in the world.
Production Notes
The fruit was hand-harvested in the cool morning and brought to the winery at modest Brix. We picked the fruit in four separate passes to capture balance and complexity. The earlier fruit we pressed whole cluster, the later picked fruit was macerated on skins for 24 hours. The macerated juice was fermented in French oak barrels, the whole cluster press was fermented in tank. The wine was aged sur lie in barrel for 6 months.
Winemaker Notes
The fruit was hand-harvested in the cool morning and brought to the winery at modest Brix. We picked the fruit in four separate passes to capture balance and complexity. The earlier fruit we pressed whole cluster, the later picked fruit was macerated on skins for 24 hours. The macerated juice was fermented in French oak barrels, the whole cluster press was fermented in tank. The wine was aged sur lie in barrel for 6 months.