Winemaking
Some assorted thoughts on winemaking and style:
Vinalia made mostly from Nebbiolo this is our homage to Barolo and Barbaresco. Most Cal-Italia wines are heavy on the Cal and light on the Italia. Not this one. You could easily mistake it for a native of Piedmont. We utilize old-fashioned Italian winemaking techniques to achieve this. The wines spend a full two years in neutral oak as well as several years of bottle age to soften them.
Napa Valley Cabernet is a classic. There's no point in fooling with a sure bet, so we kept this pretty simple. We used the best grapes we could find, we put it into the most expensive barrels, and we aged it till it tastes right usually after 18-20 months. We use primarily French oak barrels about 50% of them new. Our goal is a fully extracted and dark wine with rich fruit character and soft tannins. These wines are balanced and age-worthy.
Pinot Gris( Grigio) There are two schools of thought with Pinot Grigio, either light and crisp or rich and dense. I base the picking decision on the rich and dense model. While technique is generally of interest only to practitioners of the craft, in white wine making technique is of vital importance. Whole cluster pressing avoids problems with bitterness. Barrel fermentation in neutral older barrels gives both complex bouquet and mid palate sweetness without the distraction of oak flavors. Using several yeast strains, some for perfume and some for savor makes for a more dynamic flavor. A partial malolactic adds further layers and aids in the wines longevity. Late or flavor stirring of the lees both richens and integrates the palate. Finally some additional aging of the wine in tank before bottling further smooths the palate and lifts the aromas. The wine that results is in many ways unlike any other domestic Pinot Grigio.