Nose
The aromas are accentuated with spice and blackberries.
Palate
Complex and heavily layered, this wine bursts with juicy blackberry, cherry, vanilla and spicy clove flavors; it’s earthy, leather and sweet tobacco aromas can be quite intoxicating. Having well developed sturdy tannins that linger and coat the mouth enable this wine to not only be very well adjusted for food pairing, but age-worthy as well.
Growing Conditions
Teroldego, an extremely rare grape that we grow at 2800 feet, atop of our Upper Ridge Vineyard in the new Pine Mountain/Cloverdale Peak AVA is an Italian varietal that is grown primarily in Northern Italy.
2014 was a vintage that brought us a third year of drought. Our farming practices give us an edge over traditional farmers, since our vines have been taught to drive their roots deep into the soils, claiming water from below, not above. We received “miracle rains” in March, and a shake-up by Mother Earth in August kept us on our toes. The summer went smoothly, without significant heat spikes, but we did see high humidity throughout. Harvest was fast and compact until the early part of October provided a break to process the massive amounts of fruit. This is another great vintage on the heels of the fantastic 2012’s, and superb 2013’s; 2014, creating wines of true pedigree.
Winemaking
Fermentation took place in small open top tanks and was punched down daily. After pressing, the wine was racked to French oak barrels.
Aging
French oak barrels and aged for 18 months before bottling.
Food Pairing
We recommend decanting before enjoying with a skirt steak or lamb.
