Achillee Chrysalide 2022 (750ml)

A one of a kind, two year (done in 2021 & 2022) project from the family that runs Achillee. Harvested from 6 newly purchased plots that were all farmed organically, but not yet biodynamically. Once Biodynamic certified, these plots will produce single vineyard wines. Pierre chose to combine all the plots for this wine and just see where it went. It consists of Riesling (50%), Gewurztraminer (23%), Pinot Blanc (15%), and Pinot Noir (12%). Everything was harvested the same day, and very slowly pressed, with a miniscule amount of skin maceration leading to the tinge of pink (mostly from the Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer). The fermentation (which was not temperature controlled) suddenly stopped somewhere around day 12, leaving a small amount of residual sugar, which brings a magical amount of balance to this experimental wine. Instead of trying to restart fermentation, they chose to age for 10 months in stainless steel, then do a gravity racking off the fine lees 2 months before bottling and a small dose of sulfur to stabilize with the remaining sugars. The name, CHRYSALIDE refers to the magical transformation that the fruit from these plots underwent, creating a wine that no one had expected. Just like a caterpillar into a butterfly. 

Average Vine Age: 35 years. Altitude: Multiple parcels at an average altitude of 820 feet (250m). Soils/Terroir: Multiple parcels located on soils of granite and schist.