Vintage Notes
In 2023, the Moon Mountain District experienced one of the longest growing seasons in a decade or more. With consistent, mild weather throughout the season and extended hang time, 2023 is an exceptional, high-quality, and memorable vintage.
Winter and spring rains led to full reservoirs and healthy, saturated soils; ideal conditions as our vineyard headed into bud break. The mild, warm summer weather (72-75 F) supported healthy
canopy growth through bloom and set. Though certain blocks faced mildew pressure, clusters remained loose for good air flow. Relatively cool weather throughout the growing season in tandem with an abundance of sunshine allowed grape skins to ripen slowly. Harvest kicked off at Monte Rosso on September 20th; we picked our grapes for The Essence in two passes – on September 25th and October 3rd.
Cellar Notes
The grapes were hand-sorted and destemmed at the winery. We put them through a two-day cold maceration in 3.5-ton stainless steel, open top fermenters. The must was then inoculated and fermentation lasted fourteen days at 78F.
The wine was then racked onto a combination of French oak puncheons and barriques (16% new); it was matured for 15 ½ months. It was bottled unfined and unfiltered on February 19th, 2025.
