Vineyard: Best known for old vine Zinfandel and new plantings of Rhône varieties, the Dry Creek Valley is fully capable of producing world-class Cabernet Sauvignon when the right conditions come together at a particular site. Since 1947, our neighbors the Gradek Brothers have farmed their unique property one mile up a remote canyon from the Dry Creek Valley floor. Cabernet Sauvignon vines are planted around a rocky knoll with excellent drainage and several aspects. These features, combined with decades of family knowledge of the site, yield wines with deep color, tremendous concentration and beguiling complexity.

Vintage: The 2021 growing season began with a dry, cold winter but saw a swift rise in spring temperatures, fostering robust vine growth and successful flowering. Summer remained temperate, and the calm growing season and drought conditions enabled grapes to reach phenolic ripeness at lower sugar levels while preserving aromatics and bright acidity. Cabernet Sauvignon harvest at Gradek Ranch occurred on October 15th and produced a small crop with concentrated flavors, ideal conditions for a superb vintage. 

Winemaking: The grapes were de-stemmed into small open-top tanks for a long cold soak to encourage development of color 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 gravity-fed "pump-overs" once per day. After pressing the wine went into 50% new French oak barrels, aged for 24 months, and was racked only once, immediately prior to bottling.