92 Points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford rolls from the glass with warm blackberries, black cherry compote and red and black currants at the core with touches of cardamom, lavender, dusty earth and wild thyme. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has plenty of bright, lively fruit and ripe, finely grained tannins, delivering a well-poised, delicately earthy finish.
Director of Winemaking - Ted Edwards
Winemaking Team - Kristy Melton, Gabe Valenzuela, Barrett Anderson
Vintage & Winemaker’s Notes
This wine is opaque with dark ruby color. The aroma is very rich with blackberry and dark currant fruit. With great depth of fruit, the oak adds a spicy edge, yielding nuances of aromatic cedar, cinnamon, clove, cigar box, black pepper and dark chocolate coco powder. This is a very big wine, the body is very full, balanced with black fruit flavors, coupled with a good acidity and resolved tannins. This will give a Cabernet lover goose bumps!
Primary Vineyard
Bosche Vineyard - Rutherford (59.5%) Located west of Hwy. 29, on the famed Rutherford Bench, the Bosche vineyard has very deep gravelly soils. A seasonal creek crosses the vineyard which causes the water table to be high in the spring, providing water and nutrients for new shoot growth. As veraison approaches the water table drops, stressing the wines and intensifying the dark velvety fruit flavors.
Sycamore Vineyard – Rutherford (26.2%) Located about 1.2 miles south of Bosche, right up against the Mayacamas Range, this vineyard has a rich clay loam. Sycamore Vineyard produces small berries reminiscent of mountain fruit berries, with intense extract of color and flavor of black currant and black berry with a forest floor complexity.
Red Barn Ranch Vineyard - Rutherford (14.3%) Located in the heart of the Rutherford appellation, this vineyard is a mosaic of creek beds. The Napa River and Conn Creek have traversed through this vineyard in history past, leaving gravely loams and ancient creek beds. The fruit is soft, with cherry, plum, rhubarb and arugula.
Growing Season Notes
The winter continued a dry weather pattern and bud break was early. The growing season was moderate, near ideal, and on an early pace. Most varieties were harvested in September with a final wrap up on October 10th...getting it all in before any rains developed.
Composition:
78.8% Cabernet Sauvignon
15.4% Petit Verdot
3.6% Merlot
2.2% Cabernet Franc
Age of Vines & Soil Type: 8 - 26 years; gravelly clay loams formed by alluvial action
Fermentation: Stainless steel fermenters at 75-86
Life Span in Proper Cellar: 20 – 25 years +
