2008 Late Harvest Aleatico

This Aleatico comes from the rich soils of the Serres Ranch located in the heart of Sonoma Valley. Vineyard owner John Serres allows the grapes to be slightly shaded because he has learned that it brings out the floral character.

Grapes are de-stemmed with minimal crushing. Must is pumped to a temperature controlled stainless steel tank and inoculated with a pure strain of wine yeast to ensure complete and healthy fermentation. Grapes are pressed and the juice is moved to a settling tank. With this amount of natural sugar fermentation is slow and can take up to two months to arrive at a balance between residual sugar and alcohol. After fermentation the wine is racked into neutral French oak barrels and then racked once more during the course of aging and moved to a tank for bottling.

Jacuzzi’s Late Harvest Aleatico is an explosion of plums and flowers with notes of licorice. The high alcohol makes for a very weighty wine and the high natural sugar is well-balanced against the grape acid. A serious dessert wine, not to be taken lightly. Try it with a big, flavorful, fruit-laden chocolate cake.