Nose
The nose has notes of black cherry, cinnamon and spice.
Palate
On the palate the wine displays a darker character of black plum skin, soy, and loam. The wine has great acidity and a lovely mouth feel. To me this wine expresses a French esthetic with great balance between the fruit notes and the earth notes.
Growing Conditions
In 2014 the growing conditions were perfect with no damaging weather events. The Sonoma Stage Vineyard is one of the coolest vineyards in Sonoma County. Positioned on the south side of Highway 116, between Sonoma and Napa, the vineyard is subject to cool winds both from San Pablo Bay to the south and the Petaluma Gap to the west. In a typical vintage the vineyard sets very little fruit, but in 2014 the vineyard was quite productive. The weather in 2014 was perfect and fruit condition was excellent.
Winemaking
We fermented in open top tanks for 11 days with 10 whole clusters. The wine was aged in Francois Freres, Boutes, and Rousseau barrels for 12 months prior to release.
Aging
57% new French oak, Francois Freres and Boutes.
