Palate
Lush tropical fruit intertwines with lemon, lime and floral notes. Elegantly layered, this wine exhibits a rich texture and firm backbone with a hint of vanilla and spice to round out the long finish.
Growing Conditions
Handcrafted from the top 7% of all the Kendall-Jackson lots. 70% of the wine is from the same vineyard blocks year-to-year, ensuring greater consistency and enhanced complexity with each vintage. Sur lie aged with lees stirred twice monthly to integrate fruit and oak and promote a creamy mouthfeel. Since 2011, all of our vineyards have been third-party certified as sustainable by CCSW (Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing ) and SIP (Sustainability in Practice). Old vine Santa Maria benchland vineyards in Santa Barbara County add structure and richness to the wine. Monterey County’s hillside fruit delivers citrus and floral notes. A mixture of ancient Clone 4, Dijon and Rued clones impart a range of complex aromas and flavors to the wine.
Harvest
The 2012 vintage in Santa Barbara and Monterey was very close to perfect, and high-quality grapes were the norm in almost every block we harvested. The resulting cuvee showed great balance with rich, tropical flavors accompanied by clean, well-integrated acidity and finesse.
Aging
8 months aging in 78% French (26% new) with the balance in American (3% new) oak.
