The Clones
The fruit for this Cabernet emphasizes three clones, from seven separate blocks, with vines from 15 to 30+ years old. From the river benchland, we use our clone 337 for its fruit-forward black cherry flavors. Hillside clone 7 fruit adds floral layers and classic Cabernet cassis and cherry elements. Our oldest plantings, a field selection from the Belle Terre Vineyard, provide tannic concentration and blue fruit notes.
The Vintage
2018
With abundant winter rainfall, and a warm February, the 2018 growing season had an early budbreak and consistent fruit set. The early start to the season was followed by a warm summer without any significant heat events. The moderate temperatures lead to relaxed picking of a robust crop of exceptional quality. Our vines produced pristine grapes, with excellent natural acidity, lovely balance and pure varietal flavors. We began harvesting our Cabernet on October 13th and finished October 23rd with brix ranging from 23.3 ̊ to 25.7 ̊.
Winemaking
Our Cabernet harvest resulted in seven individual native fermentations (no addition of commercial yeast) in a mix of open-top and closed-top tanks. In the closed-top tanks, the must was pumped-over, which added to palate texture; while the open-top tanks had a punch-down regimen, which retained fruit intensity. The wine was racked to 45% new French oak and underwent spontaneous malolactic fermentation. Each lot was aged separately for 10 months before blending, with barrel aging for 18 months.
