Paul Hoffman, winemaker and proprietor of Atmosphere, has always loved the wine business and fine wines. The magic of wine, he believes, stems from your surroundings while enjoying a bottle. Hence the unique name Atmosphere. Atmosphere is a nice white blend of Marsanne and Roussanne.Hoffman had nice things to say about the 09’ harvest: “The La Prenda Vineyard really did not want to let go of its fruit, but the Marsanne and Roussanne came in with great acidity and with decent weight - different than most.”
From their website: Paul Hoffman has always had a passion for fine wines and the wine business. Having over sixteen years experience in hospitality, sales & marketing, distribution, winemaking/production, and business ownership, he has experienced the world of wine through many facets. Paul joined the Robert Mondavi Corporation in 2000. He moved up quickly through the organization assuming responsibility for wine education programs, developing a new sales function for private label wine, and enhancing and developing worldwide sales, marketing and educational programs for fine wine accounts. His organizational contributions in wine education resulted in his selection of the prestigious Michael Mondavi “Inspiration and Leadership” award.
In 2006, Paul had the opportunity to partner with a few outstanding winegrowers and harvest grapes from their vineyards to make wine of his own. These wines represent unique parcels of pristine vineyards in Sonoma County farmed with A+ quality in mind. Located in western Sonoma Valley, bordering Carneros, the La Prenda Vineyard lives up to its English translation as “jewel” or “gift.” The site is very heavy, Montmorillonite clay that has a very high shrink/swell capacity. The vines are pruned cane with no spur and every other shoot is removed during suckering to immediately decrease the crop. We used a combination of Stainless, New and Neutral French Oak and aged the wine in those vessels as well. This method allowed us to capture the bright acidity and fresh fruit flavors of both varietals while weaving a small amount of oak to round out the finish.
50% Marsanne 50% Roussanne
Aroma: Apricots, pears, star fruit, spice, hint of oak
Body: Medium
150 cases produced
