THE WINE

Paeonia is Shadow Canyon’s late-harvest desert wine made from botrytized Pinot blanc grapes. We harvested the fruit between November 26th and December 28th, with sugars ranging from 39 to 49 Brix. The wine fermented slowly over 6 months and spent 27 months aging in a combination of new and neutral French oak barrels. Our third vintage for Paeonia, we have found that this very special location has produced beautifully moldy fruit each year. The 2004 Paeonia is our third offering of this wine. This year’s release has super ripe notes of honey, apricot and peaches. In the mouth the wine has a wonderful balance of sugar and acidity which leave a thick unctuous coating.

THE VINEYARD

Bien Nacido Vineyard lies in the Santa Maria Valley Appelation. These own rooted pinot blanc vines were supplied by UC Davis 33 years ago, and as a certified increase block from a single mother vine, has become a source of budwood for many pinot blanc vineyards throughout California.

The only problem had been a section of the vineyard was an ideal location for botrytis which seemed to reappear every year causing problems with fruit destined for dry pinot blanc bottling. This constant problem seemed to affect one area of the vineyard each year, and the vineyard managers waged a continual battle doing their best to keep botrytis at bay. Seeing a unique opportunity, on the advice of Manfred Krankl of Sine Qua Non, they decided to encourage the vines to produce botrytis, the unique fungus which produces the great late harvest Sauternes in France. Overhead sprinklers were turned on at night to help mimic fog and produce the free moisture needed to encourage the "Noble Rot." Once the fungus takes hold, it is left to the warm temperature and relative humidity to see it take off. And thus the first late harvest wine from Bien Nacido Vineyards was produced in 2002. We have subsequently found that this very special piece of ground has the required terroir to make one of California's great late harvest desert wines.

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