MADRONE MOUNTAIN VINEYARD RELEASES
LATE HARVEST GEWÜRZTRAMINER 2005 • VINTAGE 2004 •
STARTHISTLE CUVÉE 2007 NEW! • MUNDO NOVO 2005
STARTHISTLE CUVÉE 2007
General Remarks
Once again, we pay tongue in cheek tribute to the Starthistle, that nasty vineyard weed we love to hate. In 2007, however, we had the opportunity to take our "fun wine" in a very serious direction, indeed. And we took it, of course. In spades!
Those of you who remember the 2006 Starthistle may recall that it was made (100%) from that completely unpronounceable German grape, Huxelrebe [HOOK-sell-ray-bah], a pre-war hybrid of Chasselas and Courtillier-Musqué grown by our friend Dieter Boehm at High Pass Vineyard in Junction City, Oregon. In 2007, we again secured Dieter's Huxelrebe for the blend (26%), with its delicious spice and zip, but this year we had the great opportunity to taste and buy some of Vitae Springs Vineyard's elegant, complex thirty-year-old Riesling. And, to add to this good fortune, in 2007, a damp and relatively cool year, the fruit was substantially attacked by boytritis, (short for Boytrytis cinerea -- which the Germans call Edelfäule [ay-duhl-FOY-luh] or Noble Rot (74%). As the tasting notes show, the result is very much to our liking! And it's still fun!
The Starthistle 2007 was bottled on March 12, 2008. 318 cases were made. We will release it Memorial Day, 2008. $24
Tasting Notes
A nose of cream, mint, linden flower and ripe pineapple is followed by classic Riesling flavors of lime, peach and wet stones. The mid-palate hints of something tropical -- I think of mango, guava, coconut -- while the finish, bright and clean, rolls languidly into leafy notes – blackcurrant bud, fresh-cut hay and thyme. Ethereal and deeply complex, this wine should live long, long. Who will let it?
Click here to download the Starthistle Cuvée 2007 Information Sheet (.PDF)
(Adobe Reader Required)