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Categorized | California, General

Arietta Wine Update

 

 

ARIETTA LETTER HEADER 700 Arietta Wine Update

April showers bring May flowers, and boy do we have ‘em! Roses and Chinese dogwoods are bursting out all around the Hatton Victorian in Saint Helena. The weather is beautifully temperate, making life in the Napa Valley simply irresistible.

If you cannot visit us now, the best we can do is bottle the climate and send it to you. In time for summer enjoyment we offer you our most immediately gratifying wines: the Arietta White Wine "On The White Keys" 2011, and the Arietta Red Wine "Quartet" 2010. Orders for these offerings will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis through May 5.

Please click here to purchase online.

The blends of these two Ariettas are now assembled, and we are thrilled with the results. The Arietta White Keys 2011 marries the intensity and nervosity of the 2010 (catnip to many subscribers who have drained all the stocks of this vintage) with the lusher qualities of the 2009. The Arietta Quartet 2010, on the other hand, is majestic and broodingly deep compared to the 2009, reflecting the success we had with Cabernet Sauvignon (50% of the blend) in the long, cool 2010 growing season. The wine is exciting to drink now but has the grip and density to improve in bottle for ten years and last for twenty.

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Arietta White Wine "On the White Keys" 2011
Tasting notes from winemaker Andy Erickson: "…lemon curd, citrus zest, grapefruit. Mouthwatering acidity, but with juicy, tropical fruit flavors. Cool growing season with long hang time meant full ripeness with purity of aromatics, and generous acid. Late-harvested Semillon, affected by botrytis, contributes caramel and flint notes, as well as a broad dried fig character to the palate that adds to the length."

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Arietta Red Wine "Quartet" 2010
Tasting Notes from winemaker Andy Erickson: “The 2010 Arietta Quartet is marked by substantial power and structure, which underpin the dark, concentrated, plush core of ripe fruits. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc seem to be driving the overall impression of the wine, with cassis, bramble and sage riding on a solid chassis of carefully extracted tannin and dense color. The framework is balanced and rounded by soft, supple flavors and textures brought by the addition of Merlot."

If you would like to enjoy these wines over the summer months, please select one day overnight shipping and we will ship to you the week of July 9. Otherwise, your wines will ship at the end of October 2012.
We enjoy hearing from you and welcome your inquiries by email to vanessa@ariettawine.com and fritz@ariettawine.com, and by phone 707-963-5918.

Happy summer!

signatures Arietta Wine Update

Fritz and Caren Hatton, Proprietors
Andy Erickson and Morgan Maureze, Winemakers
Vanessa Conlin, Director of Sales and Administration
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Arietta White Wine "On the White Keys" 2011
The Arietta White Keys 2011 is a blend of 79% Sauvignon Blanc from Sonoma Mountain and 21% Semillon from both Carneros and Calistoga. Approximately 450 cases will be bottled on June 27.
Arietta White Wine On The White Keys, a white Bordeaux-inspired blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, is Arietta’s first and only white wine. In 2005 Arietta’s winemaker Andy Erickson sourced three outstanding blocks of hillside Sauvignon Blanc on Sonoma Mountain, and with the addition of two tiny blocks of old vine Semillon farmed by the highly respected Napa/Carneros grower Larry Hyde, fashioned a wine of remarkable complexity. The brilliance and pungent vibrancy of the Sauvignon Blanc has been preserved by fermentation of a substantial portion of the Sauvignon Blanc in stainless steel barrels. The balance of the Sauvignon Blanc, as well as the Semillon, was fermented in new Chateau oak barrels, an important factor in achieving length and ageability. The Sauvignon Blanc provides rich citric mouth watering acidity. The Semillon provides viscosity, lengthens and polishes the wine, and gives it a sheen of beeswax and floral scents. Arietta On The White Keys shares with the red wines Arietta’s goals of quality, depth, vibrancy, and complexity, with much credit due to extreme care in vineyard selection and blending.
Arietta Red Wine "Quartet" 2010
The Arietta Quartet 2010 is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot. Grapes were sourced from Arietta’s three-acre block of Bordeaux varietals in Coombsville (planted by David Abreu in 2003), the Hudson vineyard in Carneros, and the Kenefick Vineyard in Calistoga. The Quartet 2010 merited aging in a higher percentage of new oak (77%) than the 2009. We will bottle approximately 650 cases of the Arietta Quartet 2010 on June 27.
The origins of the Arietta Quartet were wines under the label "Arietta Claret" made in 2004 and 2005 from Bordeaux varietals grown at the top of Howell Mountain by noted viticulturist David Abreu. In 2006 we changed the name of the wine to Arietta Quartet, allying the four Bordeaux varietals in the wine (everything except Malbec) to the musical subtext of the brand. Since 2007 we have created Arietta Quartet from first class blocks of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot sourced from several of the finest growers in Napa. Most lots are kept separate for the first fifteen months after harvest, at which time blending commences in earnest, the wine continually "tweaked" over a five month period thereafter. In 2009 a superb close-spaced three acre vineyard in Coombsville, planted to the four Quartet varietals by David Abreu in 2003, became the new core of the Arietta Quartet. Since 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon has been the dominant variety in the Quartet, along with generous amounts of Cabernet Franc and Merlot, and a hint of Petit Verdot. The percentage of new oak employed is usually 50-60% lower than the other Arietta red wines, making the Arietta Quartet the most approachable upon release.

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info@ariettawine.com
telephone 707 963 5918
facsimile 707 963 5919

Arietta
P.O. Box 349
Oakville, CA 94562

ariettawine.com

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