Nose
The 2007 Proprietary Red is at once elegant, restrained and complex. Composed and intensely focused, it
exhibits layer after layer of blackberry, cassis, anise, sweet cocoa, black cherry, blackberry preserves, extract,
cola, and tar.
Palate
On the palate it is dense and concentrated with great weight and structure. Each layer lingers
on and on. This wine is exceptional now and will only open further with time.
Growing Conditions
What is Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red? It is a classic Napa Valley Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Each variety is harvested and held separately throughout fermentation and barrel aging. The lots are aged an average of 18 months in French oak Bordeaux barrels, blended through a meticulous, time-honored artisanal process, and bottled without filtering or fining.
Produced in limited quantities, the Proprietary Red is a wine of superb power and density with commanding tannins and rich, dark flavors that become increasingly lush and seductive with age. Properly cellared, Proprietary Red will evolve magnificently for at least 25 years.
Bottling
It was bottled unfined and unfiltered on April 21, 2009.
Winemaking
The clusters were hand-sorted, and once de-stemmed, the berries were sorted again by hand on the way to
tank. After four to five days of pre-fermentation cold maceration, the fruit began 100% native wild yeast
fermentation in small open-top fermentors. Toward the end of fermentation, the fruit was gently pressed and
moved to barrel where it finished fermenting.
Aging
The wine remained in 75% new French oak – a combination of
Taransaud and St. Martin barrels – for eighteen months.
