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Ortega

Ortega Wine Details
Price: $13.95 per bottle

Description: This quintessential Island white can tend to be too grape-fruity on its own. So it was finished in a Loire style: crisp, dry, clean, but with a bit of body and mouthfeel, thanks to 5% Chardonnay. A great shellfish/appetizer wine.

Varietal Definition
Ortega:
Ortega’s winter-hardy character has allowed this grape to be successfully grown in British Columbia, and with limited success in Canada’s eastern province of Nova Scotia. This German cross of Muller Thurgau and Siegerrebe is primarily used to enhance Riesling in poor vintages in the Rheinhessen region of Germany. On its own, it can produce rich, flowery, peachy wines, with high natural sugar levels. However, its generally low acidity and its susceptibility to fungal diseases and coulure have limited its use.
Chardonnay:
Chardonnay is by far the most widely planted grape crop in California and dominates California’s cooler, coastal, quality wine regions. The natural varietal ‘taste and smell’ of Chardonnay is surprisingly unfamiliar to many wine drinkers, as its true character is often guised with dominating winemaking signatures. Chardonnay’s rather subdued primary fruit characteristics lean toward the crisp fruitiness of apples, pears and lemon, but the variety’s full body is capable of supporting a host of complementary characteristics, such as oak, butter and vanilla. Regardless of what is the appropriate style for Chardonnay, the varietal continues to dominate vineyard plantings in every corner of the world. Close attention to clonal selection has made this broad geographic and climactic range of Chardonnay viable in thoughtful viticultural hands.


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