Nose
Sweet cedar, tobacco and spice mingle with dried blueberry, milk chocolate, slight anise
and hot cinnamon aromas.
Palate
The mid-palate reveals spicy, toasty, briary flavors highlighted by blueberry, caramel
and roasted coffee bean. This full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon exhibits a long, briary finish accented by milk
chocolate, tobacco, cherry and dried blueberry. Enjoy now or cellar for ten years.
Growing Conditions
The 2002 season was marked by mild growing conditions with a few heat spikes in early June,
July and August. The high heat caused some shrivel which necessitated slow and selective picking. As a result
of hand picking and sorting, the vintage is firm and concentrated, without being overripe.
Harvest
Grapes were hand
harvested in late September to mid October 2002 from our three narrow-spaced estate vineyards in the Rutherford
appellation.
Bottling
This wine was not fined and was bottled in June of 2004.
Winemaking
The grapes were hand picked and cluster sorted. A long season and maturity of tannins
allowed for an extended maceration for 20 to 34 days. This contact with the skins develops the expansive
mouthfeel and tannin structure of the wine.
Aging
Aged in new, one, and two-vintage-old French oak barrels for 17
to 19 months.