Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2010 growing season began with a cold spring peppered with early season rains and turned into a summer de ned by morning fog.This relatively cool growing season was hit by an extreme three-day heat wave in August that brought temperatures of up to 116 °F. Because of the devastation caused by the heat, we spent many painstaking hours in the vineyard passing through certain blocks up to 19 times (4 additional times than in a normal year), to thin the damaged fruit and keep only the pristine clusters and berries.While we were left with signi cantly lower tonnage, the fruit that we harvested showcased amazing concentration and purity.The overall cooler season allowed the fruit a longer hang-time on the vines, enabling it to ripen very slowly, develop more complex avors, and still maintain its bright acidity.

The 2010 was aged 19months in 100% French oak.We chose barrels from several coopers including Darnajou, Taransaud, Demptos, Ermitage, Saury, Bel Air and Sylvain. 70% of the barrels were new and all were coopered using a combination of Medium, Medium Plus, Medium Long, and Heavy toast levels to provide optimal integration and balance.