2019 Idlewild Nebbiolo Lost Hills Ranch
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Unique site close to the Pacific and at high elevation. 20-year-old vines on a hillside site with Yorkville series soils and some schist. The vineyard sees snow every winter. 2018 was the first vintage. Picked in November. 60-day maceration with submerged cap. Aged for one year in neutral puncheon and one year on botti. Organic practices. Transparent orange. Very transparent, fresh and dry on the end. Recognisably varietal. Light but lovely. (JR)
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Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
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Fermented with ambient yeasts, one-third destemmed, two-thirds whole cluster, with a submerged cap and then 60–90 days of extended maceration. After that, it spends about a year in neutral puncheon and then an additional year in 32-hl Italian botti. Natural malolactic conversion. 300 cases produced. Light blood red. Smells of wet earth, flower petals and citrus peel. Juicy and saline flavours of strawberry, wet soil, dried herbs and wet iron are bright with excellent acidity. Mouth-coating tannins gradually flex their muscles, tightening around the palate, as salty herbal and floral notes linger through a long finish. One of the better bottlings I've had of Nebbiolo from California. (AY)