2015 Sparkling Brut

2015 Russian River Valley Sparkling Brut
River Road Ranch 

The Vintage
The opinion of many is that 2015 was an excellent vintage, although drought conditions were all that was talked about for most of the year. Dry conditions lead to an early bud break. The growing season was warm and for most of the period, mild. It was these conditions and relatively light crop that made 2015 one of the earliest harvests on record. For Trione, we began bringing in grapes for our sparkling on August 12th and finished with the last of the Flatridge Zinfandel the first week of October.

Cases produced:  230

Winemaking
The 2015 Trione Sparkling wine is the third sparkling vintage made at the winery. It’s made from 50% each Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on our Russian River Ranch Vineyard. The wine is made in what the French call “methode champenoise” or the traditional method. The grapes are hand harvested in the cool morning and brought to the winery where we press in a tank press that gently extracts the juice from the berries. We only press lightly to get the first 100 gallons per ton. Sparkling juice needs to be soft, light in color with very little tannin. The wine is fermented with sparkling yeast called DV10. Aged for 18 months in neutral French oak barrels then fined, filtered and bottled in special bottles where a small amount of sugar and additional yeast is added to do the secondary fermentation which adds the sparkle. The wine lays down for an additional 18 months, sur lee (on the yeast lees). It was disgorged in mid-November 2018.

Tasting Notes
Aromas of honey, green apple, and baked pear arrive accompanied by lemon peel and freshly cut lime. The palate is refreshed by a vibrant acidity and lively texture, delivering notes of vanilla, lemon meringue, and cream. Hints of almond, key lime pie, and a bite of apple right off the tree remain for a lingering, lasting finish. This wine will age gracefully for the next five years.