Nose
beautifully deep, dark ruby color and a characteristically lavish nose of dense ripe boysenberry, blackberry and blackcurrant fruit mingled with pronounced loam and mocha scents.
Palate
Full-bodied and lush on the palate, its deeply concentrated boysenberry, blackberry, cassis and dark chocolate flavors have a wonderful freshness and purity that extend into a long, savory finish framed by ripe, supple tannins and sumptuous toasted oak tones
Growing Conditions
In 2009, plentiful spring rains in Napa Valley deferred the need for early irrigation, resulting in especially small Cabernet Sauvignon berries with deeply concentrated flavors. Summer was consistently cool, which allowed for slow, steady ripening and the parallel development of grape sugars and flavors, resulting in superbly balanced wines. We harvested the grapes for our 2009 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon between September 29th and October 9th with an ideal balance of ripe fruit flavors, supple tannins and bright acidity.
Winemaking
To maximize color extraction, tannin structure and vineyard expression, Cakebread Cellars winemaker Julianne Laks employs a mixture of small and larger tanks to ferment the components of our Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon. Julianne carefully tailors tank sizes, yeast strains, fermentation temperatures and maceration techniques to the attributes of each lot of grapes, which vary by location, ripeness level and clonal type. Such specialized fermentations, combined with lot-specific barrel aging regimens, ensure that the finest attributes of each vineyard site are reflected in the final blend. Our 2009 Benchland Select Cabernet Sauvignon spent a total of 20 months in French oak barrels, 36% new, before bottling in July, 2011.
Aging
20 months in French oak, 36% new
Food Pairing
Pairs well with rich beef, pork or lamb dishes.
