2007 Lee Family Farm Verdelho

An ancient Portuguese variety with a foothold in the New World, our version of Verdelho is a crisp, dry white wine with an array of nut and fruit flavors.

The Vineyard and the Grape
One thousand miles west of Portugal lie the Azores, the home of the oldest stocks of the original Verdelho. This is where Alta Mesa grower Ron Silva found the source wood for his labor of love, the Verdelho grape. Ron's grandfather came to America in 1905, and Ron is the first in California to plant Verdelho. He currently offers the grapes to a handful of personally selected wineries.
Growing in its Azores home, Verdelho is essentially planted in rocks and is often blended with spirits produced from figs to make Angelica. Madeira was once produced from 70% Verdelho.

Ron's Verdelho is planted on 101-14 and 1103 Paulsen rootstocks, and is on a quadrilateral, t-bar trellising system, with 11x6 spacing, resulting in 660 plants per acre. The vines are arranged in a North-South row orientation for even sun exposure. The shoots are heavily thinned to improve air flow, keeping mildew under control. The vineyard is farmed with sustainable methods, with natural composting, pumice and potassium additions, and treated with hybrid mustard to control bugs. Each row is individually watered as needed.

Verdelho is an early ripening grape that favors a warm climate. The valley's heat is tempered by the afternoon winds that keep the area seven to eight degrees cooler than the surrounding Sacramento and Stockton regions.

The Vintage
Ron's farm in Lodi saw a growing season with normal temperatures and rainfall, but he harvested the grapes a bit earlier than usual. The yield was also dramatically smaller (only about 50% of the normal harvest). Ron noted the increased quality of the grapes, as well as a new level of refinement over previous years, demonstrating that the Verdelho vines of Silvaspoons Vineyard are "learning" progressively more every year about producing quality berries.

Vinification and Aging Following a gentle whole cluster pressing, Verdelho is cold-fermented in stainless steel to preserve the freshness of the fruit. After fermentation, the wine is racked into three year-old French oak barrels for three months to soften the texture and add complexity. The wine was bottled in mid-March, 2008 to capture the bright flavors and crisp acidity.

Aromas, Flavors & Palate Impressions
This vintage sports a wide, bright character with aromas of fresh banana, peppermint, and roses, and the sensation of lemongrass, pear, pineapple, and Fuji apple on the palate. It is a well-rounded wine that is not light, but certainly not overbearing either. As it goes down crisply, it leaves fleeting whispers of its flavors and finishes off with a zesty acidity that lingers. This wine is well suited to many foods due to its high acidity, but especially suited to pair well with crab, seasoned poultry, and Mediterranean salads.