Grapes: 88% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot
Region: Rutherford Estate Vineyard, Rutherford, Napa Valley.
Winemaker’s Notes: Deep shades of red sand purples commence this wine. Luscious ripe black cherry with some notes of nutmeg, cinnamon, coffee, and toasted oak combine with a hint graphite. Flavors of rich black plum and chocolate, coupled with subtle raspberry and toasted vanillin barrel. A smooth, silky palate with elegant tannins presents this wine.
Vintage: 2016 saw a near-perfect growing season. A warm spring jumpstarted bud break and an ideal June and July followed. August was cooler allowing the fruit to ripen uniformly under slow, constant conditions. Merlot harvest kicked off on September 16th, 2016. The fruit was hand-harvested in the cool morning hours and brought to the winery in half-ton bins. Clusters were sorted using a double sorting system: first, the clusters were sorted by hand then the individual berries were sorted to ensure that only the ideal grapes were chosen. These grapes were delivered to a fermenter for a period of resting on skins. Warm fermentation temperatures were encouraged along with gentle cap maceration to achieve the desired color and structure before an extended maceration time on skins prior to final pressing. The wine was transferred directly to barrel where it aged for 19 months. Twenty-nine percent of the berries used in this blend were fermented then aged in French Oak barrels for added layers of complexity.
Analysis: Alcohol 14.5%, pH 3.57, acidity 5.92 g/L.
