Description
Marsanne/Roussanne/Viognier Blend
The Cuvee Luke is a blend of 48% Roussane, 35% Marsanne and 17% Viognier, named for the Davis’ eldest grandchild. This wine was inspired by traditions from the Rhone Valley, while embracing the terrior of the Russian River Valley. The three varieties come together seamlessly, expressing stone fruit and floral aromatics, balanced with a distinctive minerality.
The fruit for this wine comes from Saralee’s Vineyard in the Russian River Valley. The Viognier in this blend was planted in 1995, the same year that we planted our estate vineyard, just a few miles away in the Russian River Valley. The soil in this vineyard is Cortina series, a gravelly loam which reflects the minerality in all three of the varietals.
Once in the winery, both the Marsanne and the Viognier were whole cluster pressed. The Roussanne was picked at night and then destemmed only, and held in a small, closed top tank at 40 degrees F as whole berries for several days before pressing off the skins. While working in the Rhone Valley, Guy found the extended skin contact with the Roussanne adds a great textural component, and a very special element of complexity, ringing true with this vineyard/wine as well. All varieties were aged individually in 200 liter stainless steel barrels. All the ferments took off spontaneously with the native yeasts, then once the populations of yeast seemed healthy and steady, the temperature of the cellar was taken down to 50 degrees F to slowly go dry, working to preserve the precious aromatics. This wine did not go through ML. All the acidity is natural, as is the alcohol level.
2016 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition – Gold Medal
2015 Sonoma County Harvest Fair – Gold Medal
