2015 Moraga White
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2015 Moraga White Moraga has never experienced a vintage quite like 2015. It was the fourth year of drought in Bel Air and the combination of early season stress due to dry soils and cool weather during flowering in May left us with a crop that was only about half of normal. Although there wasn’t a single heat event that stood out during the growing season, overall, it was an unusually warm year. A number of minor heat spikes in August accelerated the ripening process and we picked all of the Sauvignon blanc on August 24, nearly two weeks earlier than normal. We utilized the most basic winemaking techniques to make the 2015 Sauvignon blanc. The fruit was picked when it was delicious and the clusters were simply loaded into our press and the juice was gently squeezed from the grapes. Twenty percent of the juice was put in new French oak barrels and the remaining 80% was placed in stainless steel barrels. Then we waited patiently for the yeasts endemic to the vineyard to work their magic. After only three weeks, the wine in oak barrels was transferred to stainless steel, where it spent the balance of its youth. The wine spent 11 months on the lees in barrel, developing viscosity and texture prior to bottling. In order to preserve the crispness, structure, and fruit character of the wine, we avoided malolactic fermentation. The nose and flavors are fairly typical of what we have come to expect from Moraga Sauvignon blanc. The aromas and the impression in the mouth mirror one another - notes of citrus rind, a hint of citronella, fresh green apple, Bosc pear, Asian pear, and honeydew melon mingle with floral notes of honeysuckle and hints of pineapple and white peach. The texture is exceptionally round and viscous and the wine finishes with mouthwatering persistence. Moraga is heaven for Sauvignon blanc. Although we’d love to take credit for making such a lovely wine, the truth is that Moraga is a very unique place and the wines are special because of the serendipitous intersection of climate and soil.
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