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As harvest approached, both sugar and acid level tests were conducted twice daily. However, as was the case with the 2006 and 2007 releases, the final picking decision was decided strictly by flavor profile as determined by the educated palettes and collective experience of the winegrowers and Aurielle’s winemaker, Chad Alexander. Mount Veeder was harvested on October 11h and Howell Mountain was harvested October 16th. Harvest was conducted in the cool morning hours and the grapes were rushed to the winery for crushing and de-stemming. The must was then chilled to 55 degrees and the wine was left to cold soak for 1 week before a gradual rise in temperature enabled the natural yeast to begin fermentation. Twice daily punch-downs were condu ...more... cted in small open –top fermentors. After fermentation was completed, the wine went through an exceptionally lengthy (3 weeks) extended maceration process to extract maximum color and tannins and create the silky mouthfeel that is a trademark of Aurielle’s age-worthy but approachable style. A state of the art bladder press was used to extract the wine from the must and only free-run juices were kept. The wine was aged following a complex barrel-aging program designed to create complex flavor layers and aromas which perfectly showcase the superb quality of the Howell Mountain and Mt Veeder vineyards. French oak was used exclusively with 80 percent of barrels being new and 20 percent being used once. Four different premium coopers were represented and 20% of the barrels were specifically sourced from The Limousin forest in France to provide a top-note of vanilla and caramel tones on the long finish. The wine from both the Howell Mountain and Mount Veeder vineyard sites was aged in separate lots for 12 months during which time careful racking was conducted as necessary to clarify the wine. After 12 months, the lots were blended.as required, before being bottled un-fined and unfiltered after a total of 21 months in Oak. An additional 12 months of bottle aging commenced before release in the September of 2010.

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www.auriellevineyards.com