#14 – Nectarine

Bottled (16) 325ml and (16) 750ml (from 5 gallons) at 19.5% ABV on 5 February 2012.

This is the first wine that, after it fermented bone dry, I finished to taste — that is, about a week before bottling, I added just enough sugar where I thought it tasted like nectarines again.  A slight side effect of this became apparent over time:  some bottles are ever so slightly frizzante, and a couple bottles actually “pop” when uncorking.  (This was noticed after the first batch of “BRB” was discovered to be frizzante…) Fortunately, the higher alcohol content kept the in-bottle fermentation of the additional sugars in check!

Only a slight “pop” and some very light bubbling from the 2013 Reserve bottle I opened on 10 January 2014.  The color is a very nice, rich, light amber color — and the flavor is most certainly of sweet, ripe, nectarines.  While smooth on flavor, there’s also a very subtle bit of a bite, perhaps a result of the combination of the slight frizzante-ness (is that a word?) and the (obvious) alcohol content.