2006 Scout's Honor

Yet another spectacular vintage in honor of our beloved winery dog, Scout. 2006 was a lighter yielding year as compared to its predecessor, 2005. The vintage was very mild and even tempered as well. This allowed for wines of wonderful concentration and stature in both the barrel and bottle. It was a vintage similar to '05 in many respects but with about 1/3rd less yield. We like to call that a winemaker's vintage.

I've changed up the blend a bit in 2006. Never before have I introduced to the Scout's Honor one of my favorite varietals, Syrah! I love Syrah for so many reasons on its own but it doubles wonderfully as a blending varietal. The colorful Petite Sirah and Charbonno in this blend have been workhorses along with the Zinfandel for several years. Weighing in at 63% this year?s blend is primarily Zinfandel with the balance shared by 15% Petite Sirah, 15% Char-bonno and 7% Syrah. In every vintage one or two particular varietals or vineyards will outshine the others. Fortunately with the 10 different components that make up the Scout's Honor it is easy to find a great fit of the best parts.

Scout is proudly looking down on us as we eagerly release this year's effort. We sure miss him more than ever these days. You never forget the pet you cared for the most and he was surely the one! Lucy our Golden Retriever reminds us a lot of Scout but there was only one Venge Winery Dog original. This vintage is an eclectic assemblage with light violets, crushed herbs, red cherry and licorice scents in the nose. The palate is driven with femininity from the Zin with loads of ripe red berry and cherry and enveloping masculinity of mineral, char and tannin flavors from the Syrah, Charbonno and Petite Sirah. This is a largely structured wine and not for the weak of heart nor imagination. With time this wine will certainly find itself developing wonderfully and finding even more harmony.

Kirk Venge, Proprietor & Winemaker of Venge Vineyards

Technical Aspects
Fruit was sourced from several areas of Napa Valley. The majority of Zin and a small compo-nent of Petite Sirah are from our former Venge Vineyard aka. Rossini Ranch, in St. Helena as well as Zinfandel from the Moss Creek Vineyard in the gorgeous Cappelle Valley in the eastern reaches of Napa Valley. The Charbonno is 60 years old and is entirely sourced from the noble Frediani Vineyard in Calistoga. The Baranek Vineyard in Clarksburg supplies us Petite Sirah and lastly, the Syrah is from the Muhlner Vineyard in Napa's Chiles Valley.

Vinification and Ageing
Harvest began the first weeks of October in 2006. The small individual lots of fruit were de-stemmed and whole-berry fermentation took place for 12 days in tank, and then aged for 16 months in 60% new American Oak from Missouri. No conventional pumps were used in the making of this wine. Only diaphragm air pumps and forced air pressure movement were em-ployed to preserve the full fruit integrity in the wine. Unfined and unfiltered. Best enjoyed until 2014.

Bottling Data
63% Zinfandel; 15% Old Vine Charbonno, and 15% Petite Sirah, 7% Syrah 0.60 g/100mL T.A., 4.1 pH, 15.3% Alc. Bottled on April 21, 2008. 1428 Cases Produced.