Nose

The wine has loads of bright raspberry, blueberry, red apple cider, Grand Marnier, tobacco, and sage with further notes of cassis, red fruits, blackberries, currants, fruit tree flowers, and a slight hint of cedar shavings.

Palate

On the palate the wine has a remarkable freshness and excellent length highlighted by super fine-grained, silky tannins. Having a core of precise “just ripe fruit” the wine has power but emphasizes restraint, elegance and balance.

Winemaking

Vintage 2008 turned out to be a nail-biter. The season unfolded very slowly, with bud break happening ten to fourteen days later than normal. This "lateness" persisted throughout the season, with all of our major indicator milestones of approaching harvest-vine growth, bloom, veraison, etc.-happening that same two weeks late. Late harvests, where the grapes just reach maturity, are always some of our finest. The threat can be from early frost or early rainfall. We escaped both, resulting in wines with floral aromatics and high tones.

Aging

70% New French Oak 30% Second Fill French Oak 22 months.

Appearance

The color is some of the most impressive we've seen.