Nose
The nose on this wine turns up the volume to 11 (Spinal Tap style). Divinely complex with notes of sweet fresh and dried flowers, balsam, crème brûlée, and vanilla. Pure ripe fruit without being cloying. Background notes of a freshly cut White Fir awaiting Christmas lights.
Palate
Delicious, incredible length, with a string of perfect acidity coursing throughout and supporting the intense fruit with levity and freshness.
Winemaking
Qualitatively, I think this wine is on par with the 2010 but is showing well earlier in its lifespan, offering more immediate drinking pleasure. Remarkably, a small portion of Cabernet from our new Serra Pedace Vineyard contributes to the blend. This is a rarity, in which fruit this young would qualify for the Reserve blend, and bodes incredibly well for the future of this vineyard.
Aging
22 months in new and once filled French oak barrels and neutral
puncheons.