Nose
delightfully perfumed nose of dense ripe cherry, boysenberry, and blackcurrant fruit accented by subtle floral, loam and spice scents.
Palate
Wonderfully concentrated on the palate with a deep, firm core of black and red cherry, pomegranate, blackberry, cassis and black fig flavors, it boasts a lovely spice-box note on the very long, rich finish.
Growing Conditions
2012 was a truly spectacular growing season in Napa Valley, with a warm, dry spring fostering early budbreak and trouble-free flowering and grape set. Consistently mild summer weather free of rain or unwelcome heat spikes allowed us to harvest our Vaca Range grapes at peak maturity with a perfect balance of deeply concentrated fruit flavors, bright acidity and ripe, supple tannins.
Winemaking
Our 2012 Vaca Red is a blend of a half-dozen lots of wine from our three Vaca Range vineyards. Each lot was separately harvested, cold-soaked to enhance color, flavor and tannin extraction, tank-fermented and barrel-aged prior to blending. Tank size, yeast strain, fermentation temperature and barrel type were specifically tailored to the fruit character of each lot. Our 2012 Vaca Red spent a total of 21 months aging in French oak barrels, 57% new, prior to bottling in August, 2014.
