Tasting Notes
This wine presents with a deep, dark, red hue. There is a dense ripe blackberry, black plum and cassis nose with a background of coffee beans and a hint of vanillin. Flavors present ripe, mountainside Cabernet showing boysenberry, espresso, black licorice, and toasted oak. This is a big, ripe Cabernet with a polished complexion.
Technical Note
Winemaking
2016 saw a near-perfect growing season. A warm spring jumpstarted bud break and an ideal June and July followed with moderate daytime temperatures and cool nights. August was cooler allowing for an even and steady growing season. Harvest started on August 16th, 10 days later than last year and wrapped up right before Napa saw a significant rainfall on October 14th. Yields were as expected and the quality of the fruit is exceptional.
The fruit was hand harvested in the cool morning hours and brought to the winery in half ton bins. First, the clusters were sorted by hand. Then, the fruit ran through a small de-stemmer prior to the individual berries being sorted to ensure that the most ideal grapes were chosen. These berries were delivered to a fermenter where there was a period of resting on skins. Warm fermentation temperatures were encouraged along with gentle cap maceration to achieve the desired color and structure for the wine before an extended time on skins prior to final pressing. The wine was transferred directly to barrel for 18 months of maturation.
Forty seven percent of the sorted berries used in this blend were fermented in French Oak barrels to add layers of complexity to the wine then remained in those same barrels for aging.
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