2020 2020 Cavaillon
CAVAILLON is a bright orange melon, sharing a name with the town in southeast France where it is grown. The melon is known for its endless floral aromatics and rich flavor. The Raft Wine CAVAILLON is a skin fermented Viognier, a dedication to the melon with it’s beautiful color, texture, and taste.
Technical
Tasting Notes
This wine year after year is true to its soul. Notes of juniper, melon, pear, and botanicals jump out of the glass. On the palate, it feels of jasmine green tea - sweet, savory, and tannic.
Details
Up above the Central Valley, lies a vineyard in the foothills called Love Ranch. Organically farmed, 1300 feet elevation, and on Ahwahnee Vista soil – decomposed and weathered granite – this vineyard feels like a glimpse of the Rhone in California. Love Ranch is planted to many different varietals, and Raft is thrilled to get Viognier from the vineyard for the 2019 CAVAILLON.
This pick was Raft Wines first pick of the season, on August 15. There is always such excitement for the first pick of the season. We doubled production of this wine for 2020 so we’re extra excited to have more available.
Once in the winery, the grapes were 100% destemmed and fermented in a small bin. It was gently punched down twice a day, before being pressed after 10 days on the skins. After a time in barrel, it was racked off the gross lees (heavy sediment) and returned to finish it’s secondary fermentation in neutral oak barrel.
The wine was bottled August 16, 2021 unfined and unfiltered.