A collaboration between Clos LaChance winery and WineStyles, our MELLOW wine is a great starting point to experience “wine styles” flavor profiles.   This red wine embodies the characteristics of a typical MELLOW wine style category.  Light bodied with aromas of anise with flavors of bright cherry, raspberry and cocoa. Pairs with pasta, veal, pork, beef or lamb recipes. Enjoy with feta or Parmesan cheese.

Clos LaChance winery is a multi-generational family-owned and operated winery.  Located within the Central Coast American Viticultural Area (AVA), tucked into the beautiful Hayes Valley in San Martin, California.  Being good stewards of land and resources, the Close LaChance Winery and Estate Vineyard is proud to be Certified Sustainable by the California Sustainable Wine Growing Alliance.

CLOS LACHANCE VINEYARDS

Harvest Notes
2019, like the previous two vintages, continued to be one of the latest starts to harvest in recent memory. As the winters have become increasingly wet over the past three years, the soil profile has continued to allow the vines time to mature at a health rate and allow for a prolonged growing season. Seasonably above average rainfall in the spring gave rise to a later than average bud break and bloom. The late bloom period allowed the weather to warm up and decrease any concerns of a devastating frost event, a welcomed outcome for winemakers statewide. The summer of 2019 was well below seasonal average for temperatures and heat spike events. Only four days of 100+ degree temperatures in 2019 was well below that of 2018 and 2019 that saw 16 and 11 days respectively over 100 degrees. This even and mild temperature swings gave us an ideal growing season which pushed well into November. The extended hang time is shaping up to provide extremely high quality and likely one of the best vintages in the past decade.

Winemaking Notes
The Mellow Wine comes from the premier regions in the Central Coast AVA of California. The grapes are hand-picked and hand-sorted and then cold soaked for 48 to 72 hours to maximize tannin and color extraction. The must is inoculated and pumped over for 4 times a day during peak fermentation. The pump overs help to extract the tannins and color out of the skins and seeds to maximize complexity and structure in the wine. The different varietals in the blend are kept separate for the first year of aging on oak, then blended and aged together for the remaining months to create a symbiotic relationship between all flavor and aromatic compounds. The wine is aged for 18 months in 100% French Oak of which 30% is New Oak. The final blend is fine-tuned prior to bottling where different varietals can come together to create the final wine which embodies a perfect balance of characteristics.

Tasting Notes
Color: Dark plum
Aroma: Brambleberry, light oak, pepper
Flavor: Blackberry, cooking spice, dark chocolate
Structure: Medium plus acid, medium tannins, full body
Food Pairing: Braised Lamb Chops, Baked Chicken
Cheese Pairing: Feta, Parmesan

Technical Information
Vineyard: 100% Central Coast, California
Blend: 60% Primitivo, 30% Zinfandel, 10% Alicante Bouschet
Harvest date: 9/21/18-10/11/18
Average Brix at Harvest: 25.5
pH: 3.69
TA: 0.58
Alc: 14.5%