Nose
Intensely brooding with cassis, crushed violets, black olives, and wet dark earth. Coffee grounds, cocoa, and eucalyptus are also prevelant.
Palate
The palate has even darker flavors of reduced cassis, tar and black cherries. The tannins are very present and chalky with great acidity to balance it. The finish is long and of black plums.
Growing Conditions
In 2015 Mt. Veeder was spared the intensity of the storm that reduced yields in other appellations. The yields in Mt. Veeder are already the lowest of any sub appellation, but were on par with previous years. The bowl shaped vineyard is on a 30 degree slope with a majority of the soil composed of volcanic rock.
Harvest
The fruit was hand-harvested at night and destemmed but not crushed first thing in the morning.
Winemaking
After a two day cold soak, the color of the juice was already nearly black. Pump overs were preformed with aeration to help bind up the short chain tannins. After 15 days, the wine was drained and pressed to restrict further tannin extraction. The press was initially kept separate but reintroduced into the wine a year and a half later during the second racking. 2-day cold soak before fermentation
Aging
The wine was aged in 80% new French oak for nearly two years.
