Palate
Aromas and flavors of wild blackberries and blueberries are complimented by hints of baker’s chocolate and plum preserves woven with nuanced hints of toasty oak providing a nice lift on the palate.
Growing Conditions
The grapes for this wine were selected from some of the most premier Napa Valley vineyards, a mix of valley floor, benchland and hillsides. The 2017 vintage was one of promise and challenge for Napa Valley grape growers, but in the end, fruit was of high quality overall. Plenty of winter rains gave way to healthy vines at the beginning of the growing season. Other than an early September heat spike, the growing season was moderate. Picked just before the October wildfires, fruit yields were average in size with smaller berries possessing big and complex flavors.
Harvest
All grapes were hand harvested, delivered in half-ton picking bins, then hand-sorted, destemmed and partially crushed before being gravity-fed into small open-top fermenters.
Aging
The cap was alternately punched down and pumped over up to four times daily through fermentation. Once fermentation completed, the free run juice was drained and the must gently pressed in a basket press. The wine was gravity racked into French oak barrels (87% new) for malolactic fermentation and remained in individual barrel lots until the final blend was assembled and aged.
