three 2009 Sweetwater Ranch Albariño Monterey County

     Our Albariño is sourced from the Sweetwater Ranch located in the rolling hills east of King City in Monterey County. It was originally planted as Cabernet Sauvignon in 2000 in a hillside block consisting of a sandy loam soil with moderate to high vigor. It was grafted to clone 5 Albariño in 2006 and is cropped at 4½ to 5 tons per acre.

     California enjoyed a long growing season due to a cooler summer and a larger than expected crop. The disease pressure during the growing season was low and temperatures were cooler than our growers had seen in recent vintages with fewer heat spikes above 90 degrees in July and August. As September approached, we were worried that ripeness levels lagged but an extended spell of warm temperatures jumpstarted harvest. In addition, we saw a larger crop which takes longer for the vines to ripen. Even with the late rains in October, three was in the clear since all our fruit made it into the winery before the first cloud burst.

$18/750ml - cases produced 563 Order Wine

 dirt MATTers 2009 Albarino Sweetwater Ranch.pdf  140.95 KB  06/29/2010 18:35