Bedlam 2006

Retail Price: $22

Blend: 28% Gruner Veltliner, 27% Albarino, 26% Viognier, 15% Chardonnay, and 4% Muscat

Production: 120 Cases

Description: The 2006 Bedlam offers up aromas of lime, honeydew melon, gardenias and kiwi, with good concentration, ripeness, and a long, refreshing finish.

Vintage: 2006 was a season of ups and downs in terms of weather. A warm and dry April preceded a normal month of May. June was bright and sunny through flowering, but the skies opened up for a record 6 inches of rain June 22nd and 23rd, thankfully after the flowering was finished. A typical July was followed by essentially no rain in a hot August, which had the potential to stress the vines; but September and October were cool, with about twice the normal rainfall, and the vines got the water they needed. The hot August weather and intermittent periods of sun in the fall were enough to ripen the fruit fully and produce complex, well-balanced wines.

Vineyard: The 2006 Bedlam is made from a blend of fruit from all of our white varieties, whose vineyards face northeast to northwest and yielded between 1 and 2 tons per acre.

Fruit handling: The grapes for the 2006 Bedlam were hand picked by our crew between September 12 and October 3, 2006. All fruit was sorted to remove any imperfect berries, cooled overnight then basket pressed with only the best press fraction (approximately 60% of the total) used.

Vinification: After racking and chilling for one week, the components of the 2006 Bedlam were fermented separately; the Albariño, Viognier, and Grüner Veltliner in stainless steel at 60-70 degrees for 15-25 days, the Chardonnay in French oak for 30 days, and the Muscat in glass carboys. None of the wines underwent malolactic fermentation, and after fermentation they were blended and stored in stainless steel with the lees stirred once a week for 8 months. After natural cold stabilization outdoors, the wine was filtered and bottled April 1st, 2008.