The 2015 FORTIS shows a classic Bordeaux nose with pencil lead, dark fruit aromas, plum, and earth. Elegant with rich fruit intensity expressing dark cherries, concentrated blackberry jam, mocha, espresso, and vanilla. An expansive palate leads to a long, ripe, polished finish. We barrel age the wine in our winery’s caves to mature flavors and integrate plush, layered textures. This is a seamless wine with great finesse that will continue to age gracefully.
For this special bottling, only the finest blocks of the most outstanding fruit are selected from our 47 acres of estate vineyards in the Stags Leap District. Each year there are a few blocks that stand out as stellar among the others. These blocks are designated for FORTIS.
Following several years of drought, February delivered much-needed rain to the vines. Budbreak occurred early in 2015 due to warmer than normal temperatures in late winter and early spring. Warm temperatures and abundant sunshine June through October led to good growth the rest of the season, an early harvest, and very high-quality, balanced fruit.
The grapes were hand harvested at night, carefully sorted in the vineyard, and brought to the cellar and destemmed. The grapes received a cold soak, followed by fermentation at a high temperature to ensure maximum extraction was achieved. Then, the wine was racked to 100 percent new French Seguin Moreau Icône oak barrels, where it was aged for 27 months prior to bottling.
92/pts – Wine Advocate
90/pts – Wine Enthusiast
The 2014 FORTIS combines notable elegance with rich fruit intensity. Ripe mountain blackberry, cassis, dark plum, dark chocolate, sweet oak, coffee, and vanilla aromas lead to an expansive palate of dark cassis, espresso bean, plum, and black cherry. We barrel age the wine in our winery’s caves to mature flavors and integrate plush, layered textures. This is a seamless wine with great finesse that will continue to age gracefully.
92/pts – Wine Advocate
90/pts – Wine Enthusiast
For this special bottling, only the finest blocks of the most outstanding fruit are selected from our 160 acres of estate vineyards across the Napa Valley. The appellation composition of every vintage varies, depending upon the performance and character of each vineyard. For 2014, the blend is composed of 85 percent Stags Leap District, 6 percent Howell Mountain, 5 percent Oakville, and 4 percent Rutherford fruit.
Two natural events persist in California, droughts and earthquakes, and in 2014 we experienced both in Napa Valley. Pine Ridge Vineyards sits on solid rock, so the winery did not suffer damage during the earthquake. It was the third consecutive year of drought and the third fantastic vintage with perfectly ripe fruit coupled with high acidity. Weather overall was a bit cooler than in 2013, but conditions were excellent with no real threat to the vines. A mild winter combined with heavy rains in February and March nourished the thirsty vines and resulted in early budbreak. The berries were hand harvested at night, carefully sorted, and destemmed to tank, where fermentation took place. Then, the wine was racked to 100 percent new French oak barrels, where it was aged for 26 months prior to bottling.
