Aromas open with dark fruit and dried leaves, pencil lead, milk chocolate, and tobacco with floral notes. A viscous mouthfeel welcomes fruit flavors of blackberry, blueberry, and chocolate and continues to the long finish revealing a bit of burned butter. This is a mouth-filling and pleasing wine to savor.
Located at the southern corner of Napa Valley, Carneros is heavily influenced by the cool San Pablo Bay climate. Our sloping estate vineyards contain 1,520 vines per acre and feature rootstock suited for the heavy clay-loam soils in Carneros. The cool growing season develops complexity and intensity in the Bordeaux clone we selected. The Oakville appellation spans the Napa Valley from the Vaca Mountains in the east to the Mayacamas in the west. The gravel and clay soils found on our 25-acre estate vineyard yield Merlot wines of exceptional balance and structure.
The 2016 harvest marks the fifth great vintage in a row. Although it was another drought year and yields tended to be a bit lower, the quality was very high. The year started out hot, then became cold, then turned hot again, and October began one of the heaviest rain seasons this region has seen in many years.
The fruit for this wine was harvested at an optimal level of ripeness in September to October. Fermentation took place at a high temperature to ensure that maximum extraction was achieved before the wine was racked to 65 percent new French oak barrels. The wine was aged in barrel for a total of 18 months before bottling.
