Growing Conditions
In 2015, we suffered up to 45% losses in several blocks. It was an early start, but cool weather during flowering in
May contributed to a less than normal fruit set. The berries that did set were generally much smaller than usual.
Once the set was complete, we had warm to very warm conditions up to and through harvest. There was no rush
to judgement on when to pick, we had plenty of space at the winery for the short crop, and all the fruit was in
before the winter storms started to line up off the coast. Initially, I did not pass judgement on this vintage; but
now having tasted all the wines in bottle – it is a great one in all respects.
Winemaking
Each lot was fermented separately and then after
multiple blending trials we arrived at the final blend. It is a classic Bordeaux
blend, the percentages are flipped on their heads a bit with the larger percentage
of PV. The CS brings the sweet fruit to the blend, the CF the earthy
components and the PV brings the spice and lift. As different as the blend is,
they all worked together beautifully and have created one of the top wines of
the vintage for us
