VIE 2007 Roussanne Technical Data

Wine Technical Data
Blend	100% Roussanne
Appelation	100% Round River Ranch, Lake County California
Harvest Dates	October 26, 2007
Sugar at Harvest	24.9 degrees Brix
Fermentation	X days with X punchdowns/day
Aging / Cooperage	9 Months, 1-year old and neutral French Oak Barrels
Alcohol	14.7% by volume
Acidity	TA: .57, pH: 3.55

Technical Notes

In 2007, we waited out the rain and fortunately caught a warm spell at the end of October allowing the fruit to ripen and the flavors to develop to almost optimal conditions. The extended hang-time gave the vines more of a chance to push the subtle characteristics of the terroir at Round River Ranch into the grape, providing intensity and concentration in the fruit. But, with the rains came botrytis, something common in French Roussanne, but not something we had dealt with in the past. This fortunate occurrence caused us to make a more balanced Roussanne with an extra layer of complexity caused by the botrytis and it’s management, leading to a more complex and powerful old world style Roussanne.

The processing of our Roussanne is unique. We use an oxidative process that we learned from Wells Guthrie of Copain Wines , who learned it from the time he spent making wine in France at M. Chapoutier. It’s basically the complete opposite of what they teach at UC Davis. We sort and crush our Roussanne much like a red grape. After the crusher, we dump the grape must into a large stainless steel tank and pump the juice over the skins for a number of hours. Afterward, we put the must into the press and press the juice into barrels for fermentation. A long, hard, labor intensive process, but it’s worth it as it shows in the wine! The fermentation was a long slow process as we keep the wines in a cold room. This requires a lot of “baby sitting”, but allows for the subtle characteristics of wines to come out in the fermentation. Enjoy!

Winemaker's Tasting Notes

Our 2007 Roussanne boasts great structure and full palate weight showing elegance up front with honeysuckle and apricot notes with a clean crisp entry on the palate with mineral notes under luscious round full-mouth caramelizing fruit and balanced acidity allowing this wine to be enjoyed with or without food. Drink now and within the next 3-4 years

About Vie Winery

Vie uses traditional “old world” family winemaking techniques to ensure that the unique qualities of the grapes are reflected in the wine, thus making each bottle a unique drinking experience. While these techniques take more time and produce less wine, the end result is a wine that can be enjoyed now as well as cellared for many years to come.

Vie comes from the Old French word meaning "to invite" or "to give occasion for". Or, in French today, it is simply translated "Life". With friends, with experiences, with everyday life – get the most out of life! We at Vie Winery embrace this philosophy and hope that you can experience this through our wines. Make an occasion to enjoy Vie with friends. Enjoy Vie! Enjoy Life!