Palate
This wine explodes with fruit
flavors of red and dark berries with essences of warm
marionberry pie and leather. The finish is smooth and
silky and goes on forever.
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.
Sources: Beverly, Wautoma Springs,
Stone Tree, Cold Creek. Vineyard sites are located on the Wahluke Slope (for aromatics
and complexity); the Cold Creek area (for flavor and
fruitiness), and on Red Mountain (which contributes
focus and structure). The region’s low rainfall yields concentrated fruit with
depth and varietal expression. This was a magnificent vintage for our Reserve Cabernet,
which was crafted in a classic Bordeaux style.
Harvest
Cabernet Sauvignon grapes for the Reserve program were
harvested from the top 10% of the vintage’s best vineyard sites
Winemaking
Hand-picked grapes were de-stemmed and placed in stainless
steel tanks un-crushed. Cold soaking on the skins for two days extracted soft tannins
and intense color.
Aging
Lots were blended and placed in predominately new
French oak barrels to finish primary fermentation, which
was followed by malolactic fermentation. Aging occurred
for 26 months.
