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This is the first release of our Estate Melon de Bourgogne, vintage 2008! It is now available at the winery ($25.00). It will soon be available at local fine wine shops and at restaurants on Bainbridge and in Seattle (see Where to Find page for locations).

In 2004, Perennial Vintners took a huge gamble by planting the first Melon de Bourgogne grape vineyard in WA state. We felt that the growing area of this grape in France (near Nantes) was sufficiently similar to the cool climate Puget Sound AVA that it would do well here. From the 2008 harvest we have finally released the first wine proving our gamble was worthwhile. We harvested about 1.5 tons and have produced 22 cases.

The vineyard being in the Puget Sound American Viticultural Area (AVA) means we get all the benefits of the maritime-influenced cool climate growing area as well as the extended length days of our more northerly latitude. What all this leads to is the most fragrant and aromatic wines imaginable...

2008 was an unbelieveably difficult growing year in the Puget Sound area, thus we brought in the 2008 harvest with lower sugars, but physiological ripeness had been achieved with perfect pH and TA numbers and lovely citrusy flavors. It is a dry white wine, and is renowned across Europe (where it's known as Muscadet, pronounced moose-ka-day) as the wine for pairing with any seafoods. This wine was not intended to be aged -- please enjoy it young, while its fresh fruit aromatics are at their peak.

Click here for a brief history of the Melon de Bourgogne winegrape in the US

This wine label features a commissioned artwork. Please visit our page with more information about Dianne Gardner of Port Orchard and her work, including a photo of her daughter, who is the model for the lovely lady in the image.