Winemaker's Notes
We recommend decanting when drinking this wine in its youth to best showcase its alluring aromatic expression.
APPEARANCE medium ruby
AROMAS & FLAVORS Blueberry, cassis, vanilla custard, nutmeg, cigar box, vintage leather, black truffle
PALATE Blackberry, black plum, espresso dust, vanilla bean, lavender, medium acidity, structured tannins, extended finish
FOOD PAIRING SUGGESTIONS
The acid and tannin in this wine make it a flexible accompaniment to meat-based cuisines. Our personal ideal match is a fine charcuterie board with diverse arrays of cheese, such as Toma, P’tit Basque, or Piave, with olive oils and a touch of red pepper jelly.
PRODUCTION
125 cases
ALCOHOL
14.1%
AGING POTENTIAL
This is a graceful wine that is built to age and develop in your cellar. Enjoy through 2035 and beyond.
ACCOLADES
“On the palate, the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a lovely core, fine soil signature, lovely balance and grip, and a long, fine-grained and very promising finish.”– 93 Points – John Gilman, View from the Cellar
ABOUT THE VINEYARD
The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes come from 21-year-old vines in the Chalk Hill AVA. The site sits at an elevation of 600 feet, at the apex of a rocky, sloping hill. Volcanic soils and cooler-climate influences give unique character to the wines from this region.
WINEMAKER NOTES
Harvest took place October 22nd and 31st, with the grapes being berry-sorted by hand. No adjustments were made to the must.
“The grapes were fermented in French oak barrels. For this technique I opened the head of the barrels, and carefully weigh in even amounts of sorted grapes into each vessel. I then close the barrel head, tip the barrel on to its belly, and transfer it to a special rolling rack. Maceration and cap managment are handled by rolling the barrels at set intervals throughout the day. Once maceration is determined to be complete the wine is gravity drained and each barrel is opened up to access the pomace. The leftover skins are scooped out of each barrel, collected, and gently pressed. The empty barrels are washed and resealed, and after a quick pressure test they are ready to be filled with wine. Every two fermentation barrels in this method yields one barrel of finished wine. Aging of the wine took place over twenty months in a combination of Vallaurine, Taransaud, and Darnajou barrels. The wine was racked only once at blending early in its first year, and saw no fining or filtering.” – Winemaker Adolfo Hernandez
Fermented entirely in closed-head French oak, and then drained and aged for 20 months in 60% new wood.
Bottled unfined and unfiltered
TASTING EVENTS
Winemaker/Proprietor Adolfo Hernandez will join us on SIP Virtual Wine Tasting & Education on October 14th, 2022 to introduce his story and talk about the rare barrel fermentation winemaking technique he uses in making his wines.
