Nose
aroma of ripe black cherry and currant fruit. This is enhanced by well-integrated toast and vanilla oak tones.
Palate
The wine’s rich, elegant, blackberry, cassis and plum flavors are beautifully structured by ripe, round tannins and persist through a long, fruit-filled finish
Growing Conditions
The 2000 vintage featured a cool, even growing season culminating in a classic Indian summer, insuring that our Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes developed fully ripened flavors prior to being harvested at optimum maturity between late September and mid-October.
Winemaking
After being crushed and cold-soaked for 24-36 hours, each vineyard lot was fermented separately, with 5% whole berry fermentation to accentuate the wine’s fruity characters. Warm fermentations in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, to fully extract color and flavor, were completed in 7 days, with an extended maceration of 14-21 days to maximize extraction. The free run juice was then drained and transferred to French oak barrels, 65% new. After blending in spring 2001, the wine aged an additional 14 months in barrel before bottling in August 2002.
Aging
20 months in French oak, 65% new, 35% in one & two-year old barrels.
Appearance
dark ruby/scarlet color
