Nose
The nose displays layers of perfume, ripe
cherry and raspberry jam.
Palate
On the palate the cabernet sauvignon takes the lead, revealing
rich flavors of blackberry and cassis, as well as hints of sweet tobacco leaf, vanilla and
toasty oak. Throughout, a lovely streak of natural acidity adds poise and precision to the
voluptuous flavors, while carrying the wine to a long, satisfying finish.
Growing Conditions
The season began with early springtime heat that yielded extremely
small clusters of intensely concentrated fruit. Prior to a big cool down in the last several
weeks of the growing season, 2013 was on track to be one of the hottest growing seasons
in memory. Plenty of sunshine, and a lack of any significant rain events, allowed us
complete control over irrigation, which in turn enabled us to fine-tune crop size and fruit
development.
Harvest
Our syrah was picked on October 2 and October 9 at 24.0 ̊ Brix and a pH of
3.75, and our cabernet sauvignon was picked between October 14 and October 21 at 24.9 ̊
Brix, with a pH of 3.75.
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 manage the tannins, the cabernet spent 21 days on the skins, and the syrah
spent 18 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 20 months in 100% French oak
barrels, with 37% of the total being new.
