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First impressions of this fragrant white wine are enticing aromas of apricot with delicate floral notes. These are an entry point to earthier elements of herbal tea and marzipan on the palate with a medium-long, slightly mineral finish. This wine teases your senses by juxtaposing good acidity with a supple, glycerin mouthfeel. Representative food pairings are dishes containing aromatic mushrooms, succulent roasted poultry, or shellfish in cream. In winter, a simple plate of fresh oysters from the nearby Tomales Bay is nice.

Varieties

• 78% Roussanne
• 22% Viognier

Vintage Notes

When you walk among the Roussanne vineyards of Château de Beaucastel in Châteauneuf du Pape, you wonder how vines poking out from such deep layers of galets can even grow. These vines know how to struggle. Our 2007 Saralee’s Vineyard Roussanne comes from cuttings of these very same vines, imported into California and propagated into a relatively small number of vineyards through the collaborative efforts of the Perrin Family and Robert Haas during the 1990s. As a late and uneven ripener, the Roussanne at Saralee’s Vineyard has its own struggles. Each year, gentle ripening is a race against the first fall rains in the Russian River Valley, but the reward is flavor. Following the traditions of the Rhône, we fermented this wine in individual barrels and aged it sur lies in light French oak for nine months to develop complexity. We assembled the finished wine with 22% Saralee’s Vineyard Viognier for its inviting aromatics.

Technical Details

• Time in Barrels: 9 months
• % New Oak: 15.0%