Nose
The nose is packed with
black currant, black plum, and plum blossom aromas which are backed
up by toast, smoky oak. It’s both fresh and brooding, and beautifully
projects the character of Coombsville fruit in a cool vintage.
Palate
The wine
goes straight for the mid-palate and due to its intense fresh fruit flavors
gives the impression of coolness and sweetness. There’s a lot of tension
in this wine between the structure and flavor, but the flavor wins out
with even a little air. Pour this lumbering adolescent into the biggest
wine glass in your house, inhale, and enjoy, or lay it down and reap a
tremendous reward later.
Growing Conditions
Founded in 2005, Altvs produces small quantities of handmade Napa Valley
Cabernet Sauvignon. We source fruit from a handful of serious growers
with hillside and benchland vineyards up and down Napa Valley. Our style
emphasizes balance, fruit purity and intensity.The 2010 growing season in Coombsville began with cool, wet weather in
the spring and early summer. A heat spell in August helped accelerate the
ripening process with little negative impact to the vineyards. Prior to harvest
we went through each site on a vine by vine basis and carefully removed any
damaged clusters.
Harvest
Due to the rains in October, we picked fruit on three
separate occasions based on flavor and the condition of the berries.
Bottling
Altvs is bottled unfiltered
Aging
20 month in French Oak, 75% new; Bottled Unfiltered
Appearance
The 2010 Altvs is deep reddish-purple in color.
