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Wine Description
The Story
What a great run we have had with this vineyard. We recently locked up our blocks long term, ensuring that we will be making this wine for many years to come, and we couldn’t be more excited. Stylistically, the 2013 is a combination of the 2012, which had higher acidity and tannin than any previous vintage, and the 2009, which had the most intense dark chocolate flavors. It almost has a sweetness to it, but the wine is bone dry. This extreme site provides incredibly seductive textures and pure sex appeal.
Our approach to winemaking has remained constant since our first vintage. We inspect every grape after it has been removed from the stem. We discard every one that doesn’t meet our standards; typically sacrificing six to eight percent of our fruit during this process. From that stage on, every wine is crafted to maximize balance and textures. Each of our vineyards imparts their fruit with such pure flavors that we strive to bring all of the components into harmony.
All of our wines are aged in new French barrels, including Remond, Francois Freres and Gamba for our Syrahs and Darnajou and Taransaud for Cabernet Sauvignon. We evaluate each barrel of wine biweekly, allowing the wines to dictate to us how they are treated in terms of racking, barrel stirring, sulfur additions and bottling.
While we are not open to the public, we enjoy hosting private tastings at our winemaking facility.
Vintage 2016
A near-perfect growing season
The near-perfect 2016 growing season started early, saw ideal weather conditions throughout and wrapped up as the valley's first significant fall rainstorm arrived on October 14. Thanks to a relatively steady and mild July and August and then a series of warm days at the end of the growing season, vineyards were able to progress to perfect ripeness. Wines from the 2016 vintage are now quietly developing in cellars throughout Napa Valley and vintners are pinching themselves and smiling for the gift it appears Mother Nature has given them: a fifth consecutive vintage of stellar quality Napa Valley wines.