Palate
Our 2014 Tribute is deep, intense and well-structured, with a sharp focus on its tight-knit mix of sweet earth, blackberry and wild berry notes. The mid-palate senses a touch of anise, dried herb and underbrush. The finish ends in a burst of ripe fruit and dusty, fine-grained tannins.
Growing Conditions
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.
