2018 Le Blend
;)
;)
Wine Specs
Vintage
2018
Varietal
Blend - red
Harvest Date
Throughout September
Acid
TA: 5.5 g/L
pH
3.74
Aging
Aged 5 months in 8% 2-year-old French (Gillet Cooperage) and 92% neutral oak barrels. Aged another 6 months in 15% new (Damy & Ermitage cooperages), 8% 2-year-old French (Gillet Cooperage) and 77% neutral oak barrels. Twice racked. Filtered, but unfined.
Alcohol %
14
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
LeBlend began in 2014 as a one-off, kitchen-sink blend of components that remained after assembling our other wines. There was some thought that went into it. We were aiming to balance our lighter, fruitier leftover Italian varietals with the darker characters of varietals like Syrah, Tempranillo and Petite Sirah to make a soft, easy-drinking wine with a broad range of fruit characters. Because of the surprising popularity of that first vintage, we added LeBlend to our regular portfolio and started sourcing fruit more specifically for it. The composition still changes every year, but LeBlend has a definite theme and identity now. It’s also quite accidentally become one of our most popular wines! Only 13 barrels produced.
Vineyard Notes
22% Sangiovese from Cimarron Vineyard. Cochise County, AZ. 4,300 ft. elevation. Harvested Aug. 30th -
22% Sangiovese from Carlson Creek Vineyard. Cochise County, AZ. 4,300 ft. elevation. Harvested Sept. 6th -
15% Montepulciano from Cimarron Vineyard. Cochise County, AZ. 4,300 ft. elevation. Harvested Sept. 11th -
15% Tempranillo from Cimarron Vineyard. Cochise County, AZ. 4,300 ft. elevation. Harvested Aug. 6th & 8th -
8% Petite Sirah from House Mountain Vineyard. Yavapai County, AZ. 3,500 ft. elevation. Harvested Sept. 14th -
8% Grenache from Sierra Bonita Vineyard. Graham County, AZ. 4,400 ft. elevation. Harvested Sept. 25th -
6% Mourvedre from Pillsbury Vineyard. Cochise County, AZ. 4,300 ft. elevation. Harvested Sept. 18th -
3% Graciano from Cimarron Vineyard. Cochise County, AZ. 4,300 ft. elevation. Harvested Aug. 30th -
1% Mourvedre from Cimarron Vineyard. Cochise County, AZ. 4,300 ft. elevation. Harvested Sept. 5th -
Sugar at harvest: 24.4 Brix average
Production Notes
Destemmed but not crushed to open-top, 3⁄4- and 1.5-ton bins. All lots were left ~10-20% whole-cluster except Montepulciano and Petite Sirah. Cold-soaked 24 hours, then inoculated with specially selected yeasts (BRL97, BM45, Rhone2056, D80, VRB, CLOS, T73 & UV43).
Hand punched 3-4 times daily.
Inoculated with Malolactic bacteria (Omega) around 7 Brix.
Pressed at dryness after 10 days average skin contact.
Settled 2 days average before barreling.
Production
325 cases
Other Notes
Drink now or cellar 4+ years