Tasting Notes: This full-bodied wine boasts a bright, expansive nose with warm plum, currant, and red licorice aromas. Layers of black plum, berry compote, and toasted oak reveal themselves on the complex palate along with subtle spice notes. Velvety tannins and firm acidity lead to a lingering finish, showcasing its power, concentration, and aging potential.

Vineyard: An alluvial fan deposited by ancient streams that flowed down from the Mayacamas mountains established deep, gravelly, well-draining soils in the Oakville appellation. The historic vineyard site from which we source produces rich, complex, velvety smooth Cabernet Sauvignon in the classic Napa style.

Vintage: A dry winter with just half of the region’s normal rainfall caused lower vegetative growth and vigor than in previous years, indicating that yields would be lower in 2020 than the bumper crops of 2018 and 2019. Average degree days throughout the year were a bit higher than the 10-year trend, but temperatures were consistent without heat spikes. Berries were small, with concentrated flavors, typically a good recipe for quality. We harvested on September 27th, before the onset of the Glass Fire.

Winemaking: The grapes were destemmed into one open-top tank for a brief cold soak before fermentation began spontaneously with wild yeast. Fermentation continued without the addition of any chemicals or enzymes, aided only by the heat of the sun and daily punch-downs. After pressing the wine went into 40% new French oak barrels from Darnajou, Taransaud and Ermitage, where it aged for 24 months.