Nose
Dusty, Cabernet aromas with rusty pipe, crème de cassis, and hints of tobacco leaf.
Palate
On the palate black cherry fruit is the first attack, followed by earthy, loamy flavors that linger for minutes. The tannins are firm at this stage and will require some bottle aging in order to soften up.
Growing Conditions
Since its creation, Cherryblock has been our flagship wine at Sebastiani. The majority of the fruit (91.5%) came from our original Old Vines block of Cabernet Sauvignon planted in 1961. The wine also features a portion of fruit from younger vines on our estate. Small amounts of Malbec and Merlot were sourced from nearby sites with similar climates and soils. Our goal is to create a benchmark Cabernet that possesses the elegance, structure and terroir-driven aromatics only found in Cherryblock.
Harvest
2013 was another picture perfect year for Cabernet! Overall it was a very long growing season without severe heat extremes. The crop size was moderate and exhibited ample color and extraction. Due to larger berries and ripe fruit, Cabernet tannins were not green, nor hard. Merlot and Malbec were much in the background for this vintage, in that we kept the intensity by having a higher percentage of Cabernet than was normal.
Bottling
Bottling Date June 2015.
Winemaking
After harvest, the grapes were crushed, de-stemmed and hand sorted using our “micro-crush” equipment to eliminate any stem pieces (jags) and botrytised berries. We also did a cold soak and saignée to enhance color and concentration. After pressing, each lot was blended or egg-white fined depending on its characteristics.
Aging
14 months in 70% new French oak barrels.
Appearance
Opaque red-purple in color.
