2018 Fountaingrove District Cabernet Sauvignon

Vineyard

Properties: The vineyard is located about 1 mile from the Napa County line at 1800 feet elevation in the Mayacama mountain range.  Just west of the Spring Mountain District in Napa Valley
Appellation:   Fountaingrove District, Sonoma County
Clonal  Selections: clone  7 Cabernet Sauvignon
Yields: 1.5-2 tons

Growing Season

2018 was a seamless season of heavenly hang time and phenomenal phenolic development

February saw abundant rains, followed by lots of filtered light in spring and early summer. Both bud break and flowering occurred a bit late, but under ideal weather conditions, creating plentiful and even fruit set. Summer brought generous sun during the day and cooler marine influences, virtually uninterrupted by major heat spikes. The relatively mild summer followed by extended fall sunshine and moderate heat created near-ideal conditions for us to allow our fruit to accumulate flavor complexity with gradual increases in sugar levels

Harvest Date:  October 12, 2018
Harvest Brix: 26.0

Winemaking

Hand-harvested, picked at night
Gently de-stemmed and whole berries transferred to stainless steel
Cold soaked for 48 hours
Inoculated with D21 yeast and fermented for 21 days on the skins
Free run juice drained from tank, settled for 24 hours then racked to barrel
Aged for 18 months in French oak barrels, 66% new
Coopers: Nadalie Colbert 3 year aged medium plus
175 cases produced
Composition-100% Cabernet Sauvignon

Tasting Notes: Leaner style, linear, tighter more compact and elegant. Red Fruits, red plum, red current, mingled with spice, rose petal, caramel, cedar minnerality, graphite. Rich, soft mid palet, migled with coco, bright acid, one of our more intellectual cabernets. Closer to the coast than Spring Mountian Ranch, shows off that older world cabernet character. Holds on to the nuance and elegance that mountain cabernet can hold onto.