Red Spark, 2017 - Casanel Vineyards + Winery

Casanel Vineyards + Winery - Leesburg, VA

$48.00

100% Estate Sparkling Norton wine.
Rose sparkling made in the Methode Champenoise. 8 months primary aging, 22 months tirage. Brut style. Notes of strawberry, cranberry, ripe citrus.

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WINEMAKING NOTES
Our sparkling is made from 100% Norton grapes produced in the Méthode Champenoise-style. After hand-harvesting and sorting in the vineyard, our grapes were gently transported into small lugs and then stored for one night in a cold room. The day after, the grapes were sorted again on a sorting table before being pressed with a specific sparkling pressing program: only the “Coeur de cuvée” or “middle juice” from the press was used to make this sparkling. Cold-settling occurred for one night and then alcoholic fermentation began in stainless steel tank. This base wine was fermented and aged entirely in stainless steel. In April of the following year, the base wine underwent secondary fermentation in bottle after the addition of yeast, nutrients for the yeast, and sugar. The bottling was done by hand and the bottles were stored in layers via wire cage to be aged on lees. After 22 months, we proceeded to manually disgorge (or “remove”) the yeasts precipitate (or “lees”) from the bottles and then added a dosage liquor to each bottle (the dosage liquor contained a high concentration of sugar to result in a final product at 2.7 g/l). We then completed bottling by replacing the capsule closure with natural cork and wire.

PRODUCTION DETAILS
Vintage Year: 2017
Vineyard: 100% Casanel Vineyard – 100% Estate Appellation: AVA Middleburg
Composition: 100% Norton
Average Vine Age: 9 years

Harvest Date: 9/5-6/17
Bottling/Tirage Date (for secondary fermentation in bottles): 4/27/18
Disgorging Date: 2/6/2020
Fermentation: Stainless Steel
Yeast: Spark
ML: 0%
pH: 3.03
Alcohol: 11.0% vol.
Residual Sugar: 2.7 g/l in glucose-fructose (added with dosage/expedition liquor) (Brut)

Aging: 100% Stainless Steel
Aging Time: 30 months (8 months in tank, followed by 22 months aging on lees in bottle after tirage)
Cases produced: 85 cases
Cellaring: Enjoy it now to 2025

Notes

Rose sparkling made in the Methode Champenoise. 8 months primary aging, 22 months tirage. Brut style. Notes of strawberry, cranberry, ripe citrus. Enjoy until 2025!

Winemakers

Katie DeSouza Henley & Tyler Henley