Mahoney Vineyards
2009 Mahoney Albarino
Albariño
California: Carneros - Los Carneros (Napa)
Mission Briefing
We're not in Galicia anymore
With the Fall and Winter Holidays approaching, today’s 2009 Mahoney Vineyards Las Brisas Vineyard Albarino is the perfect white wine companion for your dining and entertaining!
Today’s crisp, delicious wine hails from the winery’s own Las Brisas vineyard in the Carneros region. This cool-climate vineyard benefits from Pacific breezes from the Petaluma Gap, providing beneficial cooling while promoting gradual ripening - creating the perfect Albarino grapes.
Crisp, delicious and value-priced, we suggest keeping plenty of this food-fantastic wine on hand for your Holiday feasts. Pair with a scrumptious turkey dinner, a pot roast or a broiled sea bass.
Tasting Profile
| Look: | Lightest straw yellow fading to light primrose and then light honey at the center of the wine. After a soft swirl, skinny, tightly-space legs take a while to form, before slowly gliding down to the wine below. |
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| Smell: | Lemon curd, citrus zest and marzipan lead off. These are followed by fresh apple blossom, succulent lemon custard, dried orange blossom and a hint of honey. |
| Taste: | Meyer lemon, yellow grapefruit, lemon pelargonium, pineapple and Granny smith apple occupy the forefront. As the wine warms, even just a little, it begins to soften up, revealing fresh pear, white peach, dried nectarine and a hint of subtle white pepper. |
| Finish: | Long, crisp and delicious with sweet flavors that gradually yield to more tart. After a few moments, a soft, flinty mineral dryness sets in as flavors dwindle. |
| Pairing: |
What the Winery Says
In the 2009 Albariño, you will see that the reduced yields can equate to more concentrated and flavor-packed wines. With aromas of pear and honeysuckle, this wine is crisp and clean in the mouth. The pear and nectarine flavors are richer and more intense than those in 2007. Allow this wine to evolve in the glass if you have the patience and you will be well rewarded. This is a versatile, food-friendly wine, that pairs well with traditional seafood entrées, pastas with richer cream sauces, or roasted chicken dishes.
About the Winery
Armed with the enthusiasm of a 25-year-old and confidence in California’s potential to make world-class wines, Francis Mahoney set out in 1971 with his bride, Kathy, to grow Pinot Noir and make wines that would rival red Burgundies. Undaunted by Pinot Noir’s reputation as a difficult grape to grow and vinify, Francis accepted the challenge.
He researched the elements linked with great French Pinot Noirs, noting that the Burgundians were captivated by the concept of terroir, the combined influence of climate and place on a wine. Francis found an area similar to Burgundy in Los Carneros, the appellation which lies across the southernmost portions of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Often obscured by fog and swept by breezes from San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean, Carneros offered cool year-round temperatures ideal for growing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Francis planted Pinot Noir and began 30 years of clonal trials to better understand some of the hundreds of clonal variations of the variety. In 1972, he built a small, functional winery and set about using his best tool, a palate honed in the cellars of Burgundy during his tenure as a wine importer. The profile of superb Pinot Noir remained always in his memory, now expressed in the wines of Mahoney Vineyards. Click here to read more about Mahoney or view a timeline of his career.