Nose
Notes of black cherry, chai spice, chaparral and toasted oak.
Palate
Bramble fruit on the palate with round, supple tannins, herbal forest character, and a long finish.
Growing Conditions
Though winter was mild and dry, spring storms delivered enough rain for the vines to thrive. Summer fog and cold nights slowed ripening while intensifying flavors and acidity.
- Rainfall: 26 Inches(below normal)
- Bloom: June
- Weather: Winter rains were late to arrive, delivering a season's worth of rainfall in March. this gave Monte Bello 75% of the 26 inches of rain for the year, which is below normal. Spring remained cold with heavier than usual fog, slowing the progress for a late September harvest.
Winemaking
Whole berries were fermented in small tanks with limited pump-overs resulting in softer tannins. Once pressed, each lot was kept in separate barrels until assemblage.
- Fermentation: Grapes destemmed, and sorted; 100% whole berries fermented on the native yeasts. Pressed at nine days. Natural malolactic initiated in tank, finished in barrel with additional ten weeks of lees contact.
Hand-harvested, estate-grown grapes; destemmed and sorted; fermented on the native yeasts; full malolactic on the naturally occurring bacteria; minimum effective sulfur (35ppm at crush, 140ppm during aging); four egg whites per barrel for tannin reduction; depth filtration at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.
Aging
Eighteen months’ time in oak has produced a sensuous wine with great appeal.
- Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (58% new, 8% one-year-old and 34% two-year-old)
Appearance
Saturated purple color.
Food Pairing
- Creole Sausage Balls
- Grilled Lamb T-bones with a pink peppercorn and pomegranate glaze and minted heirloom carrots
- Lamb Meatloaf
