Palate
This wine has richness with an opulent concentration of white peach, apricot, passion fruit and citrus accents. The balance of natural residual sugar and crisp fresh acidity of Carneros provides viscosity that coats and excites the palate for a very long time.
Growing Conditions
Dulce Beso (Sweet Kiss) was made naturally when the benevolent form of a grey fungus, Botrytis cinerea, affected our wine grapes. Botrytis requires moist conditions, and if the weather stays wet, the malevolent form, "grey rot", can destroy crops of grapes. Grapes typically become infected with Botrytis when they are ripe, but when then exposed to drier conditions become partially raisined and the form of infection brought about by the partial drying process is known as "noble rot" (pourriture noble in French, or Edelfäule in German). The fungus removes water from the grapes, leaving behind a higher percent of solids, such as sugars, fruit acids and minerals. This results in a more intense, concentrated final product.
Winemaking
Fermentation for 4 – 10 weeks
Aging
24 months in French oak
Food Pairing
There's more to pairing cheese and wine than you might think. Many cheeses are too strong to match with fine or mature red wine. In fact, white wines are often better with cheese than reds. Sweet white wines, in particular, taste good with sharp, salty blue-veined cheeses such as a French Roquefort. Though we've also been known to enjoy Dulce Beso with chedder, manchego, goat's milk cheeses and more!
