Palate
Graphite, blueberry and blackberry, in addition to spring flowers.
Growing Conditions
The 2013/2014 winter was one of the driest on record in California and rainfall totals in the Napa Valley were approximately half of normal. However, the timing could not have been better: heavy rains in late February and early March gave a much-needed drink of water to the vines as they were emerging from dormancy and about to begin bud break. With a warm spring and summer, the benefit of the drought was that berry sizes were smaller and had more concentrated flavors, which contributed to the overall quality of the 2014 harvest.
Bottling
Un-fined and lightly filtered; bottled August 2016
Winemaking
Hand-harvested, picked at night
De-stemmed whole berry to tank
48-hour cold soak at 55°F
Inoculated with D80 yeast and fermented for 10 days with 11 days extended maceration Free run drained by gravity for 12 hours and press fraction blended away
Aging
Aged 22 months in French oak barrels; 80% new
Coopers: Nadalie Colbert 36 month aged Medium Plus tight grain thin stave
Appearance
Opaque ruby/purple color.
