2021 Petit Manseng
2021 Petit Manseng
This is a wine of texture, structure, intensity and extreme personality. Petit Manseng is the perfect winter white wine and, dare we say, the red wine drinker’s white. The variety is known for its tropical and semi-aromatic attributes, and this wine is no different, Leading with aromas of grilled pineapple, preserved lemon, and caramelized apples, the wine moves to more savoury, autolytic, characteristics of pastry, tarragon and a stone. With almost full malolactic fermentation, and long lees aging there is notable density supporting the bright acidity. The wine comes across very weighty with exceptional length.
In Stock
Composition / Blend
98% Petit Manseng, 2% Sauvignon Blanc
Size
750mL
Wine Specs
Vintage
2021
Vineyard Designation
Early Mountain Block 11, Castalia, Mt Juliet, Northgate, Red Barn
Bottling Date
January 2023
Alcohol %
13.9
Winemaker Notes
More than any other wine, our dry Petit Manseng represents our winegrowing philosophy at Early Mountain - constantly learning and adapting our techniques to meet our sites. Sometimes Petit Manseng’s acidity seems exceptionally high, but we have begun to utilize techniques, such as long lees contact, malolactic fermentation, etc., to mitigate and balance the acid, while making a dry wine. Fermented in primarily large format barrels (500L to 1000L) the long, very slow, ambient fermentation gives ample contact with the lees, and the addition of our “perpetual lees” barrel (still going since 2017) adds richness and a brioche undertone. With 2021, we leaned into cofermenting multiple passes in our vineyard blocks to create layered aromatics and textural attributes, as well as utilized Petit Manseng from sites throughout the state.
Vineyard Notes
In the lively spirit of Virginia, 2021 was an exciting vintage for Early Mountain. It very much reflects the impact of site, with regions throughout the state experiencing highly varying climatic events, greatly influencing the dynamic range in fruit attributes.
Early spring, we gratefully saw few frost events, escaping significant fruit damage. Despite some early season rains, bloom-time in the vineyard was quite dry, allowing for a good fruit set. With warm daytime temperatures throughout most of the growing season, we saw high and even ripening throughout both Quaker Run and Early Mountain vineyards. The late season rains, leading to harvest were also accompanied by notable drying (this was doubly obvious when tending to our new plantings, which need water!). Overall, despite harvest-time rainfall, we could not have asked for a better result.
