| Quady Winery |
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Madera, California |
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| Quady Essensia Orange Muscat |
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| From 100% Orange Muscat with an aroma reminiscent of Orange Blossom and Apricot, and a lingering refreshing aftertaste, Essensia is used as a dessert accompaniment or a dessert in itself. The Orange Muscat grape variety is little known. It was once grown in France and there are some small plantings in Italy and Australia. The wine is lightly fortified to about 15% alcohol and aged for 3 months in French Oak. The wine tastes balanced, like the taste of fresh fruit.
Essensia's vibrant flavor makes it an excellent accompaniment to desserts, particularly chocolate and those containing almonds, peaches, apples, or apricots. It is also used for dipping biscotti, for moistening cakes, or for adding to trifles. With sparkling water, it makes a refreshing spritzer; with sparkling wine it makes Essensia Royale. |
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| Quady Starboard Batch 88 |
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Why do we call our "port" Starboard?
Because it is not port. Genuine port comes from a region in Portugal, the Douro River Valley. Starboard - the nautical term for right (as opposed to port - left) is unique to our place.
How is Starboard different?
We use the same grape varieties and similar methods as in the Douro, but our climate is warmer and the soils different. Instead of 140 proof fortifying brandy, we use a neutral grape spirit, 190 proof, for fortifying. We use 60 gallon barrels instead of 140 gallon pipes used in Portugal. Starboard matures earlier and has a riper more voluptuous flavor.
Starboard Batch 88 - The grapes in Batch 88 are primarily Tinta Roriz from the Madera area. The vineyard is managed to give loose bunches and a small crop. The blend is smooth and soft with a chocolate raisin character. Several different vintages are used in the blend which has an average age of about 5 years. In the port business this type of blend is called "Vintage Character."
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| Quady Starboard Vintage 1996 |
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Vintage Starboard is intended to be aged in the bottle for some years, at least 5 and perhaps more than 20, before being drunk. Maturation in the bottle as opposed to barrel results in wines which better retain the fruit flavors from the grapes.
Only the best wines from the best years are selected to be handled as a vintage port. There should be lots of intense fruit and spice and enough grape tannin to allow for years of bottle aging.
We made our first vintage port in 1975 (continuing through 1986) from Zinfandel grapes grown in Shenandoah Valley, California. In 1979 we arranged for a selection of Portuguese varieties to be planted in Frank's vineyard at the 2000 foot elevation in the California foothills east of Sacramento. In the mid 1980's we began buying grapes from another Amador County Vineyard, which contains the Tinta Cao and Touriga Nacional varietals. Vintage Starboard has been made from these Portuguese varieties since 1987.
The current offering, 1996 is the best yet, with a delicious black cherry quality.
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| website: |
www.quadywinery.com |
