The most fantastic deep magenta color ever seen in Elysium is due in part to new vineyard practices of excessive leaf pulling and cane cutting on the north side of the vineyards. This practice increases the sunlight underneath the canopy, also adding to more of a red fruit and litchi aroma then in the past years.
Black Muscat, another under appreciated muscat variety, is known in Europe as a table grape variety, Muscat Hamburg, one of the very few black skinned muscats. If ripened to about 25 brix, it attains a rose-like aroma and litchi like flavor. This rose-like aroma led us to name the wine Elysium, Greek for heaven.
Drinking this, you can almost feel you have fallen into a rose garden and been transported to heaven. Elysium is used to either accompany or replace dessert. It is wonderful with blue cheeses, with desserts containing red fruits (such as Summer Pudding, an English favorite), with vanilla, with dark chocolate, with ice cream desserts, and candlelight. One favorite is to pour the wine onto vanilla ice cream. Serve Elysium Sundae with a glass of Elysium.
Double Gold Medal: California State Fair
Gold Medal: Amenti del Vino, Houston Livestock Show, Orange County Fair, Pacific Rim Int'l Wine Comp, Riverside Int'l Wine Comp,
Tasters Guild Wine Lovers, Tasters Guild Int'l Wine Comp, Vino Challenge Int'l
Special Award: Beverage Testing Institute- 91pts,
Silver Medal: American Wine Society Comp, Critics Challenge Int'l, Dallas Morning News, Jerry Mead's New World Intl, Los Angeles Int'l Wine Comp, San Diego National Wine Comp, San Francisco Int'l Fair