Harvest Date September 21 & 22

Growing Season The 2007 growing season was preceded by a mild, dry winter. Bud break came early and set a crop of tight clusters of small berries. Summer brought warm, even temperatures through veraison. Several heat spikes in August suggested that crush might begin early but temperatures cooled in early September, allowing ample time for phenolics as well as sugars to reach optimum levels. The result was a slow, steady harvest of exceptional quality, with wines showing great intensity and structure.

Winemaking

• Hand-harvested grapes
• Whole cluster, direct to press, cold
• Barrel-fermented with indigenous yeasts; 4 months to completion
• Concurrent, spontaneous malolactic fermentation in barrels
• Aged 16 months in French oak barrels; 64% new
• Aged sur lies; biweekly bâtonnage
• Unblended, unfined and unfiltered; bottled January 2009