GAN EDEN 1998 Black Muscat
The 1998 GAN EDEN Black Muscat is a
unique wine, produced entirely from Black Muscat grapes grown in
Don Gallagher's vineyards in Manteca, California. In all of
California, only around 63 acres of this grape are cultivated.
Gallagher represents one of the largest growers of this varietal
in the state. GAN EDEN originated a style of Black Muscat which
was, at the time (1992), unique. Our wine differed from the few
other Black Muscats produced in California at that time in that
it is not brandy fortified, but instead was fermented at cold
temperature and the fermentation was stopped using chilling and
filtration. Of course, the success of GAN EDEN Black Muscat in
the marketplace has spawned several wines, targeted for the
kosher market, which are similarly styled. Ours remains the most
successful of the lot (and I would also maintain that it remains
by far the best) by any objective standard, though it is slightly
more expensive than its competitors.
Our Black Muscat is a late harvest wine. Our winemaker, Craig
Winchell, had the grapes harvested at 26° brix, and the wine was
fermented to around 10.5% alcohol and around 8% residual sugar.
This wine retains all of the floral and spicy aromas
characteristic of muscat grapes, while exhibiting the cherry and
berry aromas and flavors found in red wines in general. This was
a very difficult wine to produce, and we are quite pleased with
the results. Our Black Muscat was just released Spring of 2001,
yet won 13 medals in competition that year, including two Golds.
This wine has won 14 medals in 2002 (making it one of the most
highly decorated wines in California that year), and 9 medals
already in 2003. Over the years, our Black Muscat wines seem have
become the favorites of numerous consumers. They certainly seem
to be our most discussed wines in the general market, given their
unique sensory qualities, and each vintage has become the most
heavily purchased wine in the tasting room of the Sonoma County
Wineries Association. As a kosher wine, it has inspired quite a
few imitators (the latest being Herzog Black Muscat), but they
never have attained the quality level or market stature of GAN
EDEN, the original. Imitation really is the sincerest form of
flattery.
GAN EDEN was established in the spring of 1985 in the Green
Valley viticultural district of Sonoma County. Our first attempt
to produce a late harvested red wine, the'92 Black Muscat, took
10 medals in 1993, and was still winning in 1994. The 1993 won an
extraordinary 16 medals in 1994, as well as receiving a Gold in
the Dallas Morning News competition in 1995. The 1994, too,
received an amazing number of medals, including golds. The 1995
vintage was similar, but far less sweet (due to harvest
conditions) and garnered fewer medals. The 1996 and 1997 each won
too many medals to keep track of, and we expect the same from the
1998. Both 1999 and 2000 vintages are in the works.
Winemaker's Comments
This wine has a beautiful light red color, with
rose petal and cherry aromas and spicy cherry, strawberry and
raspberry flavors. Our GAN EDEN 1998 Black Muscat is delicious by
itself, or complementing a wide spectrum of desserts. It is
especially good with dark chocolate. This is certainly one of our
finest vintages to date, exhibiting and extra degree of richness
which was lacking in someprevious vintages.
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GAN EDEN Wines
produced and bottled by: Yayin Corp., 4950
Ross Road, Sebastopol, CA 95472