Nose
Lavish dark cherry, boysenberry, blackberry and blackcurrant aromas, complemented by intriguing loam, mocha and toasty oak scents, introduce our 2011 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon.
Palate
Smooth and round on the palate, with wonderfully soft tannins, its plush boysenberry, blackberry, black fig and ripe cherry flavors take on savory earth, chocolate, mineral and toasted oak tones in the wine’s long, fruitful finish.
Growing Conditions
2011 was a challenging vintage. The year began with a wet winter and spring, followed by atypically cool summer weather and several October rainstorms. Not surprisingly, our Napa Valley grapes ripened slowly, resulting in a prolonged harvest. To address the situation, we thinned fruit from our vines to ensure full ripening of the remaining clusters and sorted meticulously through the grapes at the winery so that only the best berries were sent to the crusher. This helped achieve our goal of making a characteristically layered and opulent Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon.
Winemaking
In order to maximize color extraction, tannin structure and vineyard expression, we use a mix of small and larger tanks to ferment the components of our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon. Our winemaker, Julianne Laks, carefully tailors tank sizes, yeast strains, fermentation temperatures and maceration techniques to the attributes of each lot of grapes, which vary by location, ripeness level and clonal type. Such specialized fermentations, combined with lot-specific barrel aging regimens, ensure that the finest attributes of each vineyard are reflected in the final blend. Our 2011 Benchland Select spent a total of 19 months aging in French oak barrels, 45% new, prior to bottling in July, 2013.
Aging
19 months in French oak, 45% new
Food Pairing
Andouille Crusted Filet Mignon with Garlic
