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Brianna

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If you are holding a bottle of the Brianna 2023, think about this as a unicorn. This was the only vintage dated wine we made in 2023.

This was a tough year for grape growing. It started with a warm spring, then a late frost in May, then more rain throughout the rest of the year than we have ever seen. 95% of the grape crop in NH was lost to the early frost. We stuck with the idea that even in a tough year, one can grow great wines organically. The Brianna grape is so far the best we've seen to prove this out. These grapes were picked as late as we could to prevent losing the crop. 

We cold crushed these grapes using dry ice to keep them from fermenting. We then pressed and added more dry ice to cold settle the juice. Next, we racked it into the chill tank and kicked off fermentation. As it got too warm (34°C), we cooled the tank to 20°C. As the fermentation proceeded, we dropped the temperature again to -4°C to stop the fermentation to leave a tiny bit of residual sugar. We immediately cold stabilized the wine, filtered it, and bottled it.

The result is the most spectacular bottle of Brianna we have produced. This is the goal for future vintages as well.

Check out the gallery below for photos and videos of this process.

This wine is made from 100% Brianna grape juice. It is dry and lively! It is grown in our home vineyard in Derry, New Hampshire without the use of pesticides. 

One of the goals for Appolo Vineyards was to plant a vineyard that requires minimal pesticide use. When researching this, Mike was able to find a Minnesota-bred grape that he believed met this goal. He was one of the first to plant Brianna grapevines in New England.

 

The wines have received the following awards:

 

2016 Brianna - Silver - Finger Lakes International Wine Competition

2016 Brianna Reserve - Silver - The Big E Wine Competition

 

2017 Brianna Reserve - Bronze - The Big E Wine Competition

 

2018 Brianna - Bronze  - The Big E Wine Competition

2018 Brianna Reserve - Bronze  - The Big E Wine Competition

2023 Brianna - Silver - The Big E Wine Competition

2023 Vintage - Harvest and Crush

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