2016 was the last of four long years of drought which had a profound impact on the grapevines growing conditions. With little water in the ground the vines started their growing season earlier each year during the drought. 2016 was by far the earliest we had seen vines bud out in over a decade but luckily there was no frost in the Spring. The Summer was moderate allowing plenty of hang time into the Fall even with an early harvest. The smaller crop load allowed generous fruit flavor development in the vineyard.

After three years of aging, the ’16 vintage has lived up to the ripe, fruit-forward character we expected all along. Lively, red-black fruit aromas immediately jump out of the glass, followed by juicy, palate-coating fruit and firm tannins that are the hallmarks of this phenomenal vintage. Blackberry, currant, and cassis make up the complex mid-palate, deepened by notes of licorice and eucalyptus. Two years’ aging in American oak add balancing touches of cedar and spice, along with some additional tannin that will help this delicious Cabernet Sauvignon age well for a decade or more—though it’s also built to enjoy with a steak tonight!

The Cabernet fruit was hand-picked into macro bins, then sorted and de-stemmed and crushed into stainless steel tanks. Cold soaking was carried out over 24 hours, and the must was inoculated and pumped over one to three times per day, then pressed before finishing primary fermentation. Once dry, the wine was racked to barrel and inoculated for malolactic fermentation. It was racked again at the conclusion of secondary fermentation and twice more before bottling. Though it was filtered, owing to its time in barrel, fining was not necessary.