Growing Conditions

This is our ninth vintage from this small, outstanding vineyard on the lower slopes of the eastern Oakville hills. “Pedregal” means a rocky place in Spanish, and that is certainly a distinguishing feature of the site. During 2008 we agreed to a long-term lease of this vineyard which gives us complete control even through any change in ownership, so this is the fourth vintage we’ve directed farming ourselves.

2012 turned out to be a perfect vintage with clear sunny days and cool evenings. This
produced a long, moderate growing season with extended hang time and even ripening,
resulting in optimum tannin maturity and a deep range of flavors.

Harvest

The vintage ended with a
textbook harvest.

Bottling

Non-filtered.

Winemaking

Native-yeast and full natural malolactic fermentations.

Aging

Aging the 2012 sur lies with monthly bâtonnage has coated the tannins and smoothly integrated
the wood. We left this vintage 19 months in 100% new French barrels (Taransaud and
Darnajou).