The Grapes:
Blend: 75% Pinot Meunier, 25% Pinot Noir (2022 vintage)
This grape is a relative of the very mutative Pinot Noir and it gets its name from the fine white hairs on the underside of the grape leaf which from a distance resembles baking flour, thus “The Miller” (Meunier in French.) The Pinot Meunier grape is native to Burgundy and Champagne where it is used as a valuable blending component of many champagnes, where it adds fruitiness and softness to these wines. In Mendocino County, we are able to produce a very elegant still wine that has deep aromas and flavors.

The Appellation:
Mendocino, California
This wine comes from two vineyards. 75% Pinot Meunier from our Nube Bianco Vineyard located in the beautiful high elevation Potter Valley. This vineyard grows at the headwaters of, and next to the Russian River. With its high altitude, short season, rich soils, warm days and very cool nights. Potter Valley produces grapes with low pH’s, high tartaric acids and an abundance of fruity aromas and flavors. 25% is Pinot Noir from the Naughty Boy Vineyard located in Potter Valley, which is grown next to the headwaters of the Russian River.

The Wine: 
This wine has deep floral aromas and flavors of cherry pie, raspberry and toasty oak. This well-balanced wine has soft acidity and an elegant mouth feel. It finishes long, smooth and fruity

The Winemaking:
These grapes were hand-harvested October 17th, 2022 at an average 24.5 degrees brix. After crushing into a small open-top stainless-steel tank the grapes were cold-soaked for 3 days prior to yeast inoculation and fermentation. The must was punched-down twice daily for another 14 days to gently extract color, flavor and tannins. After a gentle pressing the wine was racked into small French oak burgundy barrels, of which 20% were new. The wine was oak aged for 20 months then racked from barrels, egg white fined. Fermentation: 3 days of cold soak,
punched down twice a day for 14 days in stainless open top fermentor. Aging: 20 months in French and Burgundy barrels (20% new).

Alcohol: 14.3%
Total Acidity: 6.3 g/L
pH: 3.69
Residual Sugar: 0.6 g/L

Pairs With:
Enjoy this special wine with roasted salmon or chicken braised in red wine

The Winemaker:
E-Corp has worked with Greg Graziano for nearly 2 decades, and Greg is a winemaker you never forget. From his endless supply of Hawaiian shirts to his contagious passion for wine, excessive neutral-oak ageing, and doing things the right way even if its the hard way, Greg has always been a favorite of ours. When we want to show someone a well-made wine, we show any wine that says “Graziano” on it.

The Graziano Family has a long line of winemakers and grape growers dating back to the early 1900’s.  Like his family before him, Greg Graziano, now carries on the family winemaking tradition that his grandfather set the foundation for and that his father Joseph later handed down to Gregory. To this day he is still carrying on the family tradition…as is his oldest daughter, Alexandra Graziano, a UC Davis graduate of Viticulture and Enology. She is currently involved in all aspects of winemaking and is the 4th generation, from Piedmonte of Italy to Mendocino County.

◉ The Graziano Family of Wines Website
◉ Other Wines from this producer at E-Corp