Acorn Winery Medley Russian River Valley 2007

Like a musical medley (an arrangement of interwoven melodies) each vintage of Acorn Medley is a unique vineyard composition representing the essence of Alegría Vineyards and showcasing the unusual diversity of grapes we grow. It reflects our terroir, our field blend tradition, and the effects of the weather during the vintage year. 2007 Medley is our eighth rendition. Medley takes field blending another step because it is our “blend of field blends.” Each year Bill makes a base blend that includes several aromatic and exotic varieties. After that is produced, we determine which of our other wines “play well” with the base blend to form the final blend. In 2007, the base blend for Medley is the union of three separate blends. Lot 1 was a field blend that included Syrah, Cinsaut, six Muscat varieties, Mourvedre (Mataro), and Viognier. For Lot 2, we crushed and co-fermented a blend of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouschet, and other varieties from our old Zin field blend, along with several table grapes. We crushed and co-fermented a blend of Cabernet Franc and Syrah for our third lot. The three lots were fermented in ¾ ton open top fermenters with a combination of native and cultured yeasts and gently punched down several times a day to extract color and flavor. After the completion of malolactic fermentation, the three lots were racked and blended. Later, we added more field-blended Zinfandel and Syrah to the base blend to create this elegant and complex wine.