Winemaker's Notes
This deep ruby-hued offering is comprised of fruit from some of the most select vineyards in our winery’s neighborhood blended with selected lots from our exquisite Lindsay Estate Vineyard. The 2006 possesses notable backbone for a wine that is already revealing such abundant fruit upon release. A nose of plum and dusty rose precedes an eminently appealing palate that unfolds with layers of ripe plum and raspberry fruit in perfect balance with earthy notes of bittersweet cocoa and underbrush. The finish offers ripe, silky tannins with a touch of white pepper and cedar. Alcohol 14.7%
Harvest
Harvest Date
October 6 - October 20
Harvest Brix
24.4° – 25.7°
Growing Season
2006 was slightly cooler overall than 2005 and began with delayed bud break due to long, wet spring. The weather warmed in May, continuing through summer and into fall to provide the extended growing season needed for fruit to ripen fully. Harvest began late but was accelerated by mid-harvest rains in early October. A quick response and careful hand-harvesting allowed us to keep quality high and yields low.
Winemaking
• Hand-harvested grapes
• Fermented in small, open-top stainless steel fermentors with indigenous yeasts
• 5 days cold soak, 15 to18 day total maceration
• Spontaneous malolactic fermentation in barrels; 3 months to completion
• Aged 10 months in small French oak barrels; 56% new
• Unfined and unfiltered; bottled August 2007
