2009 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley

TASTING NOTES

Our 2009 Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a complex wine with berry and floral aromatics and a lovely structure. It has a dark, ruby color and a vibrant nose of black cherry, wisteria and sweet baking spices. On the palate, the wine is elegant and expressive and echoes the berry, floral and spice notes from the nose. It has a classic structure of fine grained tannins and a long, layered finish. Given proper cellaring, this wine should give drinking pleasure through 2032.

BLENDING AND AGING

Our 2009 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, selected from several different vineyards, is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. We blended the vineyard lots in early 2010 and transferred the wine to 50% new and 50% once-used American oak barrels for aging. Blending prior to barreling allows us to achieve a balance of the wine’s natural elements, such as fruit and tannin, before they are influenced by oak. The wine was then aged in barrel for approximately 24 months and another 15 months in bottle to harmonize its components before release.

VINTAGE DESCRIPTION

The 2009 vintage was saved by significant rainfall in May that made up for a dry winter; the moderate late season ripening conditions brought the fruit to perfect maturity. Bloom conditions were excellent and the crop was even and of average yield. The summer was mild with a few heat spikes and foggy mornings in August and September prolonged the ripening period. Harvest began on September 8 and concluded on October 8^th. Integrating a new Berry Sensory Assessment protocol, adapted from the French Institut

Cooperatif du Vin, into our longstanding philosophy of producing wines of moderate alcohol, we were able to harvest fruit at peak flavor and skin maturity before Typhoon Melor drenched the vineyards with six inches of rain on October 13. Our 2009 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon displays the ripeness and balance of fruit picked under ideal conditions.