Nose
The nose offers classic ripe black currant aromas, but is highlighted with beautiful floral qualities, light clove and spice, and even notes of milk chocolate and vanilla.
Palate
The 2012 reveals interesting mineral notes of crushed gravel and even notes of the loamy and volcanic soils in which the grapes are grown. While the weighty palate is incredibly supple, there is plenty of concentration in this wine to carry it for many years of enjoyment.
Growing Conditions
Our primary goal is to make our wine representative of the character of the Stags Leap District Appellation.
The 2012 Malk Family Vineyards Stag’s Leap Cabernet is a perfect example of what the appellation has to offer.
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Harvest
Our grapes are hand harvested in the vineyard at dawn. As they are spread out on the sorting table they are still cold from the nighttime temperatures and only the finest clusters are de-stemmed and make their way to the fermentation tank.
Bottling
Bottled in May 2014
Winemaking
The grapes will rest for several days in the vats to benefit from a “cold soak”, extracting beautiful fruit character from its own pure juice and skins.
As fermentation begins, the grapes will slowly pick up heat and the skins will begin to rise to the top of the fermentation vessel. In the early stages, we will gently pump the juice back over the skins to give the fermentation plenty of air and allow for excellent contact between the juice and skins. During peak fermentation activity, we may do the process several times each day and employ such practices as delestage, where we remove all of the juice from the tank to allow for complete extraction before returning the free run juice to the grape skins.
Aging
Following fermentation we will gently drain the free run juice from the tank and move the wine to French oak barrels. Here, the wine will undergo malolactic fermentation at cave temperatures as they age.
2012: 20 months in French oak; 75% new
Appearance
The dark, yet vibrant color of the wine gives the first glimpse of its depth and elegance.
