Nose
Lingering notes of plum and raspberry, with a
hint of cassis, clove and sage.
Palate
Intense, bold flavors of dark fruit - black currant
and blackberry - are well integrated with subtle notes of bing cherry and white
pepper. Petit Verdot and Malbec provide lushness and bring elegant dark fruit
to the finish. Firm and nicely integrated tannins make for a smooth and long
finish to this multi-dimensional Napa Valley wine.
Winemaking
The inspiration behind this blend, was in fact the vintage.
2013 was an incredible year with regard to fruit quality, and we were greatly
impressed with two lots from two different Napa AVA’s - Oak Knoll and Atlas
Peak. We sat at the blending table and got creative with both components.
Combining the two lots along with Petite Verdot, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc
resulted in great complexity, giving it tremendous fruit intensity, while keeping
lush and powerful. Harvested by hand in the early morning hours,the grapes
from all of the vineyards were brought to the winery where the clusters were
carefully hand sorted, de-stemmed but not crushed. Fruit was put into different
fermentation vessels - temperature controlled stainless steel tanks. Twice daily
pumpovers, where wine was drawn from the bottom of the tank and sprayed
evenly over the cap, helped to extract color and flavor from the grape skins.
The free run wine was placed in a combination of new (40%) and seasoned
French oak barrels. Kept in separate lots by vineyard, the wine was racked
three times yearly prior to bottling.
