2017 Vine Cliff Private Stock 16 Rows Oakville Napa

VINTAGE NOTES: After five seasons of drought, 2017 began with abundant rainfall, followed by a mild Spring resulting in extended flowering with little shatter. Our yields were low but the wines that filled our cellar were promising. The extreme heat that hit Northern California over the Labor Day weekend favored the vines with the correct row orientations. In areas where grapes were shaded from direct sunlight, or had deep soils, there was little affect other than pushing the projected harvest date forward by approximately one to two weeks which meant all our harvest was in tanks end of September, well before the wildfires hit. Once we picked, we manually sorted through all of the fruit to select out any grapes that could adversely affect the wine. The Cabernet grapes were red-fruited with raspberry and cola qualities. The tannins were supple and chewy, and the palate was full and mouthwatering.

VINEYARD NOTES: The Oakville Estate vineyard is essentially two different vineyards. The lower blocks are terraced into steep canyon walls layered in volcanic Andesite and Rhyolite rocks. These terrace contours provide complexity from the various orientations that face southeast, south, southwest and west. The upper blocks are planted on the Oakville Bench (affectionately called ‘magic mountain’), a gentle sundrenched slope of red clay loam at 680’ in elevation. The five Cabernet Sauvignon clones planted provide another layer of complexity to our wines. Our location in the Oakville appellation combined with our unique farming practices and low yield produces grapes and wine with incredible flavor and concentration.

SOIL: Volcanic origin Boomer gravelly loam ELEVATION: 280’-680’

VARIETAL COMPOSITION: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon

FERMENTATION PROTOCOL: Harvested by hand, vigorous cluster and berry selection for optimal quality and uniformity. Extended maceration for 30-42 days to preserve only the mature supple tannins from this structured site.

COOPERAGE COMPOSITION: 95% new French Oak from coopers Taransaud and Sequin Moreau

BARREL AGING: 20 months PRODUCTION QUANTITY: 156 cases