2020 Malintzi
Our 2020 Malintzi (formerly known as Chispa) is a Sparkling Wine made from our Grüner Veltliner and Viognier grapes. Full of effervescence, this light bubbly is great with shellfish and rich cheeses. Lovely yeast, floral, and apple notes lead to flavors of apple, lemon, pineapple, and melon before finishing with our signature mineral and saline bite with a hint of lemon zest.
75% Grüner Veltliner, 25% Viognier
In Stock
Wine Specs
Vintage
2020
Varietal
75% Gruner 25% Viognier
Appellation
Frederick County
Alcohol %
12
Wine Profile
Vineyard Notes
Overall, 2020 was a successful growing season. After the difficult growing year in 2018 due to rain and the smaller than average harvest in 2019, our 2020 harvest burst forth with our highest yields yet. We were extremely lucky to have been missed by the late spring frosts and heavy summer rains that hit so many local vineyards, giving us plenty of sunshine, hot temperatures, and just enough rain to keep the vines from being over-stressed.
Winemaker Notes
This is our second-ever sparkling wine. It was made in the traditional method (méthode champenoise) whereby the fermented still wine is put into a bottle with a triage – additional yeast and sugars – to start a second fermentation. The wines are usually capped with a crown cap (like a beer bottle) and then are allowed to sit for a period of time in the bottle with their yeast and sugars to ferment and make bubbles. It is the sealed bottle and the second fermentation that make the bubbles because the resulting CO2 from fermentation cannot blow off because the bottle is sealed. The additional yeast will die off once the fermentation is complete and will stay in the bottle for a period of time.