Nose
This lively Grenache opens with ripe red fruit and violet
notes.
Palate
Bright cherry and licorice flavors
with a silky, refined texture.
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:The fruit for the Reserve Grenache is picked by hand from
the Coyote Canyon Vineyard located in the heart of the
Horse Heaven Hills. This vineyard is the source of some of
the finest grapes in the state. The Horse Heaven Hills vineyards are located in
Eastern Washington. This region is mostly dry with
less precipitation due to the rain shadow effect from the
surrounding Cascade Mountain range. The terrain consists of south-facing slopes that provide
excellent sun exposure for grape ripening, and protection
from cold airflow during the winter months. Strong wind patterns in the Horse Heaven Hills reduce
canopy size and density and contribute to even ripening by
moderating temperature extremes.
Winemaking
Fruit was handpicked at the peak of ripeness,
destemmed, sorted and placed into small open-top
fermenters uncrushed. A small amount of fruit was whole-cluster fermented.
Aging
Lots were placed in 48% new French oak barrels for
malolactic fermentation. Aging occurred for 20 months. Lots were kept separate during aging with blending
occurring just prior to bottling.
