THE C.R. SANDIDGE WINES
2022 Whistle Punk
Red
Due to the very cool weather from March through early – June, the overall growing season leading up to harvest was borderline disastrous. Utilizing excellent canopy management and dropping 25% of the grape clusters helped mitigate some of that growth delay caused by the cool weather. It was going to take unusually dry – warm weather through the end of October to allow winemakers the opportunity to spread out the harvest and gain some additional ripeness. Mercifully, that happened as fully ripened grapes were being picked through the 6th – 7th of November without rainfall. Ultimately, grapes were picked between 14 and 20 days later than what we would normally expect.
The harvest for this fine red wine came from a single Columbia Valley AVA vineyard site. Syrah grapes utilized to craft this wine came from the Native River vineyard. This site is located on the western shore of the Columbia River about 7 miles north of the town of Chelan. The owners are Dirk and Mary Kayser. The vineyard terrior includes; sandy to very sandy loam with some broken rock at and near the soil surface, slight influence on humidity due to proximity to the river, rows run approximately north – south. The land slopes gently to the east towards the river. The site is fairly warm.
- Harvest: All fruit was hand-picked, sorted and destemmed – crushed into one ton fermentation bins.
- Fermentation: A yeast developed in northern France was utilized for the primary fermentation. The must was fermented for 11 days on the skins prior to pressing.
- Grape must was “punched down” thoroughly twice each day while skins were in contact with the fermenting juice.
- Malo-lactic conversion: Malo – lactic conversion was fully completed while the wine was in barrels utilizing the native bacteria.
- All wines were aged for 16 months in French and American oak barrels. Sixty – five percent of the barrels were new oak. The balance was aged in one to three use barrels. This was done to the preserve a large fruit component for the final blend. The French oak we sourced for new oak was “Center of France”.
- Filtration Level: Very tight at bottling.
The quality of this vintage’s Syrah is evidenced by the fact our 2022 Whistle Punk is not blended with Petite Sirah. Despite the lack of Petite Sirah, the wine color is a very dark red bordering on purple. This is a stout wine yet possessing enough body to be classified medium – plus to full. Flavors and aromas are of sweet vanilla bean – coffee bean barrel notes. The grape introduced; ripe red and purple plum, black sweet cherry and an herbal note to the mix. The acidity is moderate while the tannins are fine and firm. This is an exceptional food or end of day sipping wine. Some recommended food pairings would be with grilled loin of lamb chops seasoned with the herbs of Provence, a plate of sauteed mushrooms or BBQ beef brisket. Our family thanks you for your friendship and support. Enjoy!!
Wine Specs
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Alcohol Percentage: | 14.5% |
| pH: | 3.62 |
| Acidity: | 5.2g/liter |
| Residual Sugar: | 1g/liter |
| AVA: | Columbia Valley |
Non-Member Pricing
Bottle Price: $47.00
Case Discount: 15%
Club Member Pricing
Bottle Price: $37.60
Case Discount: 30%