Nose
Bursting with black cherries, rhubarb pie, and huckleberry preserves the nose on this stunning Cabernet is laced with black licorice and cinnamon notes that add a subtle and exotic feeling to the luxurious pure fruit aromas.
Palate
You might expect the wines to be massive, but they are very perfumed, dark, and complex – more like Screaming Eagle than neighbor Dalla Valle.
he palate is dense and chewy with layers of unctuous defined fruits, the comforting presence of perfectly ripe tannin finishes with a touch of fine sweet cedar and black tea notes before a 30 second+ finish. This wine is well put together and showcases the playful yet powerful nature of top Oakville terroirs.
Growing Conditions
Our 2018 TOR Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville is sourced from the Tierra Roja Vineyard. Drive the Oakville Cross Road to the Silverado Trail, directly look forward and up. This is Tierra Roja, a small four-acre jewel of a hillside vineyard. Great neighbors – Backus, Screaming Eagle, Maya and Rudd. The vineyard is dotted with big rocks, and the soil is definitely roja (very red).
Might go down as one of the greats -however, I did hear from some winemakers how very long the vintage played out, and bone ass tired some were when it finally ended. But quality loves long, long vintages with lots of hang time, and 2018 had hang time. It all began in late February and went deep into October.
Winemaking
This is a barrel selection from both the gentle slope and the steep hillside terraces of the Tierra Roja vineyard. As for all of our Cabernet Sauvignons, the individual lots were fermented on skins between two and three weeks in small tanks, matured for twenty months in new Taransaud and Darnajou barrels, then bottled without fining or filtration.
