Palate
Like Rhône meets The
Rocks District, this complex blend combines classic mourvèdre notes of meat and
minerality, with abundant layers of plum, smoke and spicy black pepper, while the
grenache and syrah add bright and juicy notes of wild black raspberry and Kirsch.
Though 2014 was a warm vintage, this seamlessly layered blend is bright and dynamic,
with an energy and acidity that lift the pure fruit flavors, and carry the wine to a poised
and focused finish.
Growing Conditions
2014 delivered abundant spring heat, leading to early budbreak
and flowering. To address the heat, which continued through summer, we tailored our
irrigation, crop size and shading to the needs of the vineyard. In the run up to harvest,
Mother Nature delivered ideal temperate weather, which allowed us to pick exactly
when we wished. Our mourvèdre and grenache were sourced from the Tablas Creek nursery, and are
initially from Châteauneuf-du-Pape. As the vines at our Rockgarden Estate have continued to mature and
evolve, in addition to becoming a source for fabulous syrah and cabernet, they have
also begun yielding a spectacular expression of mourvèdre.
Harvest
We harvested our mourvèdre on October 13th and October 20th, at
23.4˚ and 23.7˚ Brix respectively. The Phelps Clone syrah used in this wine came in on
September 23rd at 22.5˚, and the grenache came in on September 29th at 23.0˚ Brix. Grapes were harvest by hand and hand sorted on shaker tables.
Bottling
The final blend was bottled unfined.
Winemaking
Everything was destemmed and fermented in small 1-ton containers for slow, cool
native yeast fermentations. The syrah fermentation took 13 days until pressing, the
mourvèdre 12 days, and the grenache took 7.
Aging
Only free-run wine was selected, all of
which was aged on the lees in 100% neutral barrels for 16 months. Burgundy barrels
were used for the syrah and grenache, with Bordeaux barrels selected for the
mourvèdre. Only 5% new oak was used overall.
