Matchbook Tinto Rey Estate Bottled Verdejo 2020, Dunnigan Hills, California

Verdejo, the iconic Spanish white grape, thrives in the warm and rocky Dunnigan Hills terroir. The aroma is both beautiful and intense with stony minerality and grapefruit. The flavors are a juicy burst of melon, white peach, passion fruit and apricot. The finish is bright and crisp with a fresh touch of lemon grass. Warm days, gravelly soil, little rainfall; these are ideal conditions for Verdejo. The Verdejo is always the first to be harvested on our estate. We pick in the early morning hours both by hand and machine. A portion of the grapes were whole cluster pressed. 20% of the wine was fermented and aged in concrete eggs to heighten the natural mineral notes of the wine and to add a creamy texture from the natural lees stirring. The remaining lots were fermented in neutral oak barrels and stainless-steel tanks. Barrel fermented lots were aged 5 months in neutral oak to increase complexity and mouthfeel. The lots were blended before bttling resulting in a wine with a creamy texture and crisp finish. 95% Verdejo, 5% Chardonnay.