Sensory Notes

Brilliant deep, red in color, the nose is full of sweet cranberry compote, tea leaf, cocoa and baking spices. The palate is elegantly textured and focused given its great acidity. Flavors of red cherry and fraise de bois complement dark caramel and linger on a long Finish.

Vineyard

Sourced from Cattiva Vineyard on Olivet Road in central Russian River Valley. This is a vineyard that we farm ourselves and is planted in the Laguna soil series. The vineyard is composed of clones 828, 23, 667, Calera and Eden.

Vintage

The 2016 vintage offered excellent growing conditions. A mild winter and spring compounded with gentle rainfall contributed to early ripening, low to moderate yields and highly concentrated grapes resulting in exceptional quality.

Fermentation

66% destemmed only and transferred by gravity to open top fermenters, the other 33% was left whole cluster. A long cool 5 day cold soak was allowed before the tank was taken off cooling. The must was then allowed to ferment with indigenous yeast to promote complexity and terroir. The fermented wine was pressed off slightly before dryness to minimize harsh alcoholic extraction and retain its core of fruit. Malolactic was completed with indigenous Ulora.