California

Vineyard Source: Watt Vineyard, Lodi

Chemistry at harvest:   Brix: 24.2% sugar   pH 3.58  Total Acidity: 5.0 grams/liter

Quantity Produced: 70 cases (12 x 750ml)

Date of Bottling: November 21, 2005

Barrels: 12 months in one year old French oak

Chemistry at bottling:    pH: 3.55    Total Acidity 6.7 grams/liter   Alcohol: 13.81%   Free Sulfur Dioxide: 24 ppm    Total Sulfur Dioxide: 58 ppm

Touriga Nacional has long been the king of fortified wine grapes. It is the grape that adds the structure and color to Port. However, recently it is being used more often in making many of the new generation of stunningly good dry reds from Portugal's Dao region. It is a very shy producer, many vines have only a few grapes on them, but those few have a real punch when it comes to fruit and color intensity. 

In California we now have 81 bearing-acres of Touriga, although there are have been almost 100 more acres planted in the last two years that are not yet bearing fruit-a testament to the future winemakers see for the grape in our climate. Sadly, due to some long-forgotten quirk of regulation, the government forces us to label the wine as simply "Touriga", rather than by its full name From the moment that these grapes came in to the winery, I felt they were going to make a beautiful wine, they had great flavors, they were perfectly ripe and had virtually no defects. Now that the wine is in the bottle, I can say that my anticipation was justified. This wine is one of the best dry Tourigas that I have ever had. It is very heavy bodied, both the mouth and the nose are multifaceted gems of smell and flavor. It is the perfect steak wine.