2022 2022 Fleur Blanc
With a challenging Spring 2022 frost in both April and May, there was a different selection of grapes presented to Raft Wines. In an effort to continue with our Fleur series, with our Fleur Pour Ma Mere, we’re introducing FLEUR BLANC, or white flower! It’s a delightful blend of white Rhone Varities, sourced from Dry Creek Valley. The previous owner of the vineyard planted a little bit of this and a little bit of that, so that’s exactly what we picked! The final blend was44% Roussane, 53% Marsanne, and 3% Viognier, farmed organically in Dry Creek Valley. Marsanne leads with a honey green tea, followed with the tart green apple crunch from the Roussane. The Viognier gives the ever so subtle floral lift.
Technical
Tasting Notes
New in 2021! This white wine is a blend of 44% Roussane, 53% Marsanne, and 3% Viognier, farmed organically in Dry Creek Valley. Marsanne leads with a honey green tea, followed with the tart green apple crunch. The Viognier gives the ever so subtle floral lift.
Details
Whats a Raft Wines harvest without a little experiment!
Picked early in the season (nearly first into the winery!) on Friday August 19th. We picked all three varieties together which gives this wine such a depth in flavor. The Marsanne was the most ripe around 23 Brix, followed by Viognier at 22 Brix and the Roussane around 20.5 Brix. The grapes unfortunately beat the arrival of the new (larger) press, so they were each pressed seperately after a gentle foot crush. Seperately they fermented in plastic eggs, then went to barrel about halfway through fermentation. They stayed seperate in these barrels until it became time to pick and choose which ones we wanted in the blend.
The week before bottling our Fleur Blanc blend was born! It was bottled 2/26/2023 unfined and unfiltered.