Nose
This wine has aromas of blackberry, black currant, dark plum, Bing cherry, black pepper spice, and slight nuance of Juniper berry. Adding to the depth and richness, the oak is well integrated with sweet oak spice components reminiscent of clove, cinnamon, tobacco and aromatic cedar.
Palate
The wine opens in the glass to sweet black cherry flavors that linger through a full mid-palate experience. Bright and rich, this wine has a round mouthfeel. The tannins are well-resolved, mature, and velvety smooth, leaving the wine with a long, lingering finish. Rich, round and seductive!
Growing Conditions
The cool wet winter continued into the spring, delaying bud break, flowering and fruit set by at least two weeks. The set was low, with a lower than average crop size in general. The summer temperatures were below normal as well, prolonging the growing cycle, delaying veraison and harvest. There was a two day heat spike around August 24th that caused sunburn damage where some of the clusters died. Sunburned fruit was separated on the vine or on the sorting table. The harvest was delayed, yet had plenty of time to achieve maturity before the rains arrived.
Bottling
July 2012
Winemaking
After a 5 day cold soak, the must was allowed to warm and yeast was added. Fermentated in stainless steel tanks for 8-10 days. Completed malolactic fermentation.
Aging
Barrels: 59 gallon French oak 62% new
Appearance
Opaque, dark, and rich in color.
