2019 Dolcetto
2019 Dolcetto - 100% Dolcetto
Alcohol 13.5%
At Awen we produce limited runs of boutique wines designed to reflect the beauty and bounty of Southern Oregon. Our wines exemplify the bond between the Earth, the Sun and the Vine.
Our 2019 Dolcetto is sourced from Quail Run’s Griffin Creek Vineyard in the Rogue Valley AVA. The aroma offers a bouquet of cherries, blueberries, vanilla and baking spices. Notes of cherries, plums and fresh black berries are followed by hints of clove and allspice. Smooth and velvety tannins make this wine a pleasure to drink.
Local Liquid Poetry
100 Cases Produced
In Stock
Wine Specs
Vintage
2019
Varietal
Dolcetto
Appellation
Rogue Valley AVA
Vineyard Designation
Single Vineyard
Harvest Date
10/22/2019
Sugar
24.5
Acid
6.1
pH
3.51
Aging
20% New French Oak for 24 Months
Fermentation
Extended Maceration
Bottling Date
April 2022
Residual Sugar
0
Tannin
Medium Plus - Liquid Velvet
Alcohol %
13.5
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
The aroma offers a bouquet of cherries, blueberries, vanilla and baking spices. Notes of cherries, plums and fresh blackberries are followed by hints of clove and allspice. Smooth and velvety tannins make this wine a pleasure to drink.
Vineyard Notes
Griffin Creek Vineyard is located in the Western Rogue Valley AVA, just outside of Jacksonville. This site offers a wonderful setting for heat loving varietals such as Dolcetto. The soil is a mix of Clay & Alluvial. This site sits on the valley floor at 1650 ft elevation. The heat of the valley floor helps get this varietal ripe while the elevation helps cool it down at night keeping the beautiful acid profile alive and well in the finished wines.
Production Notes
This handcrafted 2 ton lot is hand harvested in the pre-dawn hours and delivered to the winery at dawn. One third of the lot is split between 2 fermentation bins for whole cluster fermentation. The rest is then sent to the sorting line for cluster sorting by hand . From there it is sent up the hopper through the destemmer where all of the stems are removed. The berries are then hand sorted on another shaker table, removing the green jacks & other leaf and stem matter that made it through the destemmer. The next stop in the journey is the crusher where the berries are crushed into two 1.5 ton fermentation bins on top of the whole clusters. Next we add sulfites at 10-15 ppm to kill off any wild yeast strains in the must. This then cold soaks for 24-48 hours.
Fermentation is kicked off by inoculating the must with the BM4x4 yeast isolate which we prefer for our Dolcetto here at Awen. Fermentation continues until dry. At this point we let the wine sit on the skins and stems for an extended maceration. We taste it daily and maintain a blanket of inert gas to protect the wine from oxygen. The process is complete when the winemakers determine the tannins have achieved resolution and we press the wine immediately on the same day. From the press the wine goes into the barrels, a mix of new and used french oak, for 24 months.
Winemaker Notes
Dolcetto means "Little Sweet One" in italian. Typically these wines are made to be sweet in the old world. At Awen we do not produce this as a sweet wine. Rather, we produce a beautiful reserve style Dolcetto by fermenting to dryness and barrel aging for 2-3 years. This wine always impresses those who have not discovered the wonderful freshness and layered complexity that is native to this varietal as produced here in southern Oregon. It sits in between.