Muscat Vert The Sun Egg

This is winemaker Rosalind Reynold's third time making an individual wine out of Aki Nakai’s Muscat Vert, and this wine continues to impress. Like in Redwood Valley, Russian River Valley saw consistently warm weather through most of the harvest season, with a small rain event in early September. Because Muscat Vert ripens faster than Colombard, the fruit was picked before the weather cooled, so the Muscat Vert came in 2 weeks earlier than the Colombard.

The Muscat Vert was pressed directly, settled overnight, and racked off gross lees to stainless steel for fermentation. Once fermentation finished, the wine was placed into a combination of stainless steel and neutral oak barrels to age for 5 months before being racked together for bottling in late February.

Aki calls this fruit Muscat Vert, so Reynolds felt it was only right to put this variety on the label. However, it is not clear whether or not this is truly a Muscat, as it lacks the distinctive aromatics normally associated with the variety. At the same time, it is certainly more aromatic than Colombard or Chardonnay or Chenin, an aspect which is beautifully exemplified in this direct to press expression of the grape.

Indigenous yeast fermentation. SO2: 30 ppm total. No other additions, unfined and unfiltered.

"The sun egg" is a book by Swedish author Elsa Beskow, about an elf who finds an orange in the woods. One of Reynold's favorite stories as a child.