Opening with notes of red raspberry bramble and mountain sage, the palate is chock-full of concentrated tannins. These transition from sweet on the front end to thick on the midpalate and drying on the finish. Similarly, the fruit and savory notes identified at first, transition to those of cocoa powder, nutmeg, and cinnamon before finishing in a crescendo of juicy loganberries and espresso. A piping hot casserole of cassoulet is the perfect pairing for this high altitude mountain Cabernet Sauvignon.
The fruit was harvested between September 9th and October 19th. The 2021 growing season was a prime example of why Napa Valley is such a great place to grow grapes. The winter heading into the growing season was colder than average with a drier than average spring. There were four total heat events over the growing season with the May and September heat events being outside the typical range for that time of year. The summer growing conditions were exceptionally good, making for ideal berry development. Both bloom and veraison, which typically last two to three weeks each, were each over in about a week! The start of harvest was early due to September being very warm. The yields for the year were below average, but from a quality standpoint, it was a vintage year!
The grapes were hand-harvested at night—when temperatures often dip to 50˚F – to capture vibrant acidity and fruit expression in the wine. We first cold-soaked the must (crushed grapes) for gentle extraction and then fermented in stainless steel, concrete and oak barrel fermenters at 88˚F. Rigorous pump-overs, increasing during the peak of the fermentation, developed deep color, rich varietal character and fine tannins in the wine.
The wine was aged in 60% new French oak barrels to meld the bright fruit expression with oak spice nuances. After three months of aging, we blend the vineyard components and allow them to marry for a total of 20 months of barrel élevage. This wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered to present the attributes of the vineyard in the purest form possible, from the dirt to the glass!