Nose
Aromas of dust and earth.
Palate
This Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is firm and powerful
without losing focus. Rich structure and vibrant, ripe fruit flavors
of concentrated black fruit, which are a unique
characteristic from the Stone Tree Vineyard.
Growing Conditions
After a “classic” Washington vintage in 2012, the summer
of 2013 was one of the warmest in the past decade with
favorable temperature conditions extending into fall. Accelerated ripening due to the warm season was slowed
by cooler temperatures and light rain events in September.
This aided in hang time development resulting in stellar
fruit characters and flavors.
Source vineyard: Stone Tree Vineyard graces the beautiful Wahluke Slope on
the hillside. The flat agricultural site allows for viticulture
uniformity in plant vigor and ripening while the vine
roots tap into the mineral-rich under layer, adding to the
grapes’ character. Hot summer days, warm evenings complement the gravel
and silty loam soils of this low yielding vineyard site. Irrigation was applied judiciously to create concentrated
varietal expression
Winemaking
Handpicked grapes were crushed and then fermented in
stainless steel tanks. Twice-daily pumpovers during fermentation occurred
for 6-10 days to aerate the wine and enhance aromatics
and bouquet.
Aging
Lots were kept separate and placed into 67% new French
oak barrels for malolactic fermentation. Aging occurred for
20 months, with blending happening just prior to bottling.
