Growing Conditions
The start of Vintage 2015 was unseasonably warm in early Spring and this led to earlier than normal bud break. That combined with some
severe frosts led to uneven flowering and a small “set”. Precipitation was at 75% of normal, so the drought persisted. A very early harvest
started things off, and it seemed to last forever. Quality is very high, but the cluster count and berry sizes were very small so 2015 is one of
the smallest harvests in recent years
Harvest
field-sorted, hand-harvested, hand-sorted at the winery
Winemaking
old soaked for 4 days in open-top, temperature-controlled fermenters. Two daily punch-downs (depending on the lot) during fermentation kept the caps immersed and extracted superb flavor and structure. After twenty-one days (Merlot) and thirty days (both Cabernets) on their skins we gently pressed into barrels where the lots completed ML fermentation over the winter. Twenty-one months maturation in barrel with two rackings and one egg white fining.
Aging
100% French, 45% new, three-year air-dried, medium-toast with toasted heads and handcrafted by Boutes, Francois Frères and Nadalié.
