Palate
Alluring cherry and cream aromas hint at
this wine’s lush, juicy mouthfeel, where lovely cabernet layers of black cherry, cassis and spice
are underscored by the density and richness of the syrah. Hints of wildflowers, licorice, char
and spicy mint add nuance, while firm, well-balanced tannins and excellent natural acidity
provide an almost architectural backbone, and the promise of long life.
Growing Conditions
While a cold winter and a cool spring helped to keep yields naturally low,
we also applied careful pruning and did fruit drops, both to maintain vine balance and to allow
the vines to focus on ripening. As a result, we achieved full ripeness and the elimination of all
green character.
Harvest
Beautiful weather during harvest allowed us to pick each variety exactly when
we wanted, with all of our fruit coming in between October 19th and 21st—one of our latest
harvests on record. Our cabernet sauvignon was picked at 24.5˚ Brix, with a pH of 3.4. The
syrah was picked a week later at 24.2˚ Brix and a pH of 3.6.
Bottling
Bottled unfined.
Winemaking
After de-stemming, the uncrushed fruit was gravity-transferred to wooden
Taransaud fermentation tanks. Both the cabernet sauvignon and syrah were individually
fermented. To allow for generous extract, the cabernet spent 17 days on the skins, and the
syrah spent 14 days. Only free-run wine was selected for this bottling, which was made from
the finest lots of our Phinny Hill harvest.
Aging
The wine was aged for 22 months, in 90% French oak
and 10% American oak, with 15% of the total being new.
