Dolce Winery

Dolce is produced from a combination of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc grapes. The vineyard is planted on several clones of these varietals, in the interest of finding the ideal pairing of clone and microclimate. The production of Dolce depends each year on the arrival of botrytis in the vineyard. Once the mold begins to develop on the berries, its mission to concentrate the sugars and flavors in order to produce exceptional wine may only be accomplished when specific weather conditions exist. A combination of high humidity followed by drying encourages the mold to grow and spread, but its coverage on the grapes is not uniform; individual berries become botrytised at different rates. Harvest, therefore, is a slow process, requiring handpicking of individual grapes, partial clusters or whole clusters. The harvest takes place during several passes through the vineyard, stretched out over about a six-week period and often extending into late November. The size of each harvest depends largely on how much botrytis proliferates in the vineyard. Grapes are lost by developing the wrong molds that create a sour flavor in the fruit, and to pests such as yellow jackets, which feed on the sweet juices contained in the grapes. While the vineyard produces four-to-five tons of grapes per acre, the final yield, after botrytis infection and picking all of the useable grapes, calculates to about one ton per acre. Long-term plans call for the construction of a Dolce winemaking facility located next to the vineyard.