CLENDENEN FAMILY 2020 Mondeuse Noire
“Bien Nacido Vineyard”
Santa Maria Valley, California
VINEYARD
Mondeuse is an obscure variety that has its roots in the Savoie, the region of France bordering Switzerland. Mondeuse (Noire) creates a delicious juicy red wine with deep color and a berry/peppery flavor. The Clendenen Family Mondeuse is from a special section at Bien Nacido Vineyard planted in the early 1990s at the request of Jim Clendenen. The cool conditions at Bien Nacido delivers grapes with naturally high acid.
CELLAR
The grapes were hand harvested in the cold early morning hours from our estate plantings at Bien Nacido Vineyard. The fruit was picked at the optimum time for full flavors and depth countering the typically acid and tannin-driven variety. All the grapes were destemmed and fermented in 5-ton open-top fermenters with daily punch downs. The wine was then aged for 4 years in neutral Hungarian oak 500-liter puncheons to harmonize all the elements.