Nose
Aromas
include cassis, lavender, fresh crushed sage, black olive and cedar.
Palate
The generous and savory
palate excites with black fig, dark chocolate, tobacco leaf, and graphite. The wine finishes
long and pure with an element of fine, damp black clay.
Growing Conditions
Spring and early summer rains gave way to a mild growing season with even
ripening and a historically late harvest. The 2011 vintage will be remembered as a year with
challenging weather that produced a smaller harvest with very good wines which are striking
in their elegance.
Bordeaux‐like in structure and purity, our 2011 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is both svelte
and succulent. In addition to our Nathan Coombs Estate, sourcing for this wine includes
Beckstoffer Dr. Crane, Beckstoffer Las Piedras and Stagecoach vineyards. These properties,
whose prestige we have helped build, represent the best of Napa Valley. We are able to farm
each as our own, via long‐term contracts defined down to the block, row and vine.
Clonal Selections: 1, 4, 7, 337
Harvest
Hand‐harvested grapes.
Bottling
Unfined and unfiltered; bottled June 2013.
Winemaking
Fermented in closed‐top stainless steel fermentors with indigenous yeasts
5‐7 day cold soak, 26‐30 days total maceration
Spontaneous malolactic fermentation in barrels
Aging
Aged 20 months in French oak; 65% new