Palate
This beefy Bordeaux blend is heavy on Cabernet Sauvignon and allures with dark aromas of cocoa, toasty oak, and herbs. The flavors are ripe and succulent, backed by firm but well integrated tannins. Black cherry, clove and pepperwood coat the palate. The finish is long and clean.
Growing Conditions
The fruit that goes into this wine is grown on our estate vineyards. On our home ranch the block is located on a steep hillside full of obsidian rock and terraced for perfect exposure and even ripening. The glassy, black rock in this block holds the heat while helping ripen the fruit. The rocks mimic thousands of heaters that hold warmth deep into the evening.
2014 was a vintage that brought us a third year of drought. Our farming practices give us an edge over traditional farmers, since our vines have been taught to drive their roots deep into the soils, claiming water from below, not above. However, if the rain doesn’t come soon we can expect some difficulties ahead. We received “miracle rains” in March, and a shake-up by Mother Earth in August kept us on our toes (thankfully we only had a few repairs needed). The summer went smoothly, without significant heat spikes, but we did see high humidity throughout.
Harvest
Harvest was fast and compact until the early part of October provided a break to process the massive amounts of fruit. This is another great vintage on the heels of the fantastic 2012’s, and superb 2013’s; 2014, creating wines of true pedigree.
Winemaking
Obsidian Point, primarily Cabernet Sauvignon, showcases the diversity of terroir within individual plots of the Benziger blocks. It’s made with the most traditional hands-on methods. The grapes were hand sorted in the vineyard, fermented in small tanks and serviced by hand. Native yeast and malolactic bacteria were employed throughout.
Aging
The wine was aged for 20 months in French oak barrels (35% new).
