Dyer Vineyard

California

Cabernet Sauvignon

$ USD

Release Price

Drink Window

14.2%

ABV

3.74

pH

5.8

TA

RS

Palate

Deep black cherry fruit, graphite, dried herbs and lavender laced thru with savory notes. A graceful, even pretty, balance and weight with a lengthy finish. Muscular tannins on the palate promise a long life.

Growing Conditions

Dyer Vineyard is a 2.3 acre vineyard situated on a bench, mid-slope on Diamond Mountain. The exposition is north facing and the slope is 7-10%. The site is probably an ancient land slide- rocky with fine volcanic soil and gravel ranging from ash to richer red soils. The vineyard was planted in 1993 by Bill and Dawnine Dyer.

The growing season was defined by a warm spring with enough rain in March and early April to set the vineyards up for good growth. Temperatures during the growing season were warm but not hot- more often in the 80s than 90s. With an early bloom, the growing season was quite long, concluding with harvest on Sept 22.

Winemaking

We favor a restrained, balanced style of winemaking that cultivates the unique characteristics of our vineyard. To that end we have refined the varietal selection in our vineyard to Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Diamond Mountain is famous for wines of great longevity, minerality, and huge tannins. All our efforts in both the vineyard and the winery are focused on optimizing the development of ripe tannins in the grapes and supple tannins in the wine. To this end we employ cold soak prior to fermentation, mixed yeast fermentations, and a combination of pump overs and punch-downs during fermentation. When possible, the 3 varieties are harvested on the same day and co-fermented. Dyer Cabernet is aged in French oak for a total of 20 months. No press wine is used in the blend.

Bill Dyer
Bill spent 20 years, from 1976 to 1996, with Sterling Vineyards. He started as Cellarmaster and became Winemaker in 1985. Recognizing the importance of the vineyards, he was responsible for developing their single-vineyard wines, including a Cabernet from Diamond Mountain that garnered a great deal of attention and praise in the early 1980s. Since 1996, Bill has brought his considerable talents to consulting. Miramar Torres Estate in the Russian River Valley, Sodaro Winery and Frogs’ Leap Winery in Napa Valley, as well as Church & State Winery and Burrowing Owl Vineyards in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley all have benefited from his insight and experience — as does Dyer Vineyard. In 2005 Bill and Dawnine formed a partnership with Meteor Vineyard owners, Barry and Tracy Schuler making Cabernet from their vineyard. Both vineyards are singular expressions of Cabernet Sauvignon in the best areas of Napa Valley.
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Dawnine Dyer
Dawnine spent 25 years as Winemaker at Domaine Chandon. A staunch Californian, and always a fan of the bubbly, her tenure at Chandon was marked by the introduction of many original sparkling wines and wine styles, taking the best of both a rich tradition and a promising appellation. She was instrumental in the construction of Sodaro Winery and made their first 8 vintages. Along with Bill, Dawnine is a partner in the award winning Meteor Vineyard. She is active in the Napa Valley Vintner’s Association — and most importantly, works on Dyer Vineyard. Now both can frequently be found working in the vineyard, topping barrels and finally packing orders of Dyer Cab for shipment. Between the two they hold degrees in Philosophy, Biology, and Enology — all three come in handy from time to time.
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