Nose
complex aromas of earthy black fruits, violets, slate, dark chocolate and spice characterize the nose of our 2011 Vine Hill Cabernet Sauvignon.
Palate
Deep, dense and powerful on the firmly structured palate, the wine’s intense, dramatically concentrated blackcurrant, blackberry, dark plum and mineral flavors are bolstered by firm, yet refined tannins and balanced acidity, leading to a long, savory finish accented by earth, mineral, chocolate and toasted oak tones.
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, Napa Valley’s grapes took a long time to ripen, 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 our winery so that only the best berries were sent to the crusher. This reduced our red wine production for the year, but achieved our goal of making characteristically intense, beautifully structured cabernet sauvignons.
Winemaking
Cakebread Cellars winemaker Julianne Laks employs traditional artisan winemaking techniques to maximize the extraction of color, flavor and tannin from our Vine Hill Ranch fruit. After the grapes are crushed, the juice from each lot is cold-soaked for 48 hours prior to initiating fermentation with a cultured French yeast strain that enhances texture, depth and intensity. Once fermentation completes, the wines enjoy an extended, three-week maceration on their skins to further extract color and flavor while softening tannins.
