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2005 Textbook Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon "Mise en place", Oakville District, Napa ValleyThe Oakville District is the heart of Napa Valley and renown for its very finest Cabernet Sauvignon. And for good reason. Its gravelly soils, warm days and cool nights give this Bordeaux variety everything it needs to reach perfection. Our Cabernet is grown in the east side of appellation in very gravelly, nutrient poor soils. Gnarled thirty year-old heritage vines and low yields, combined with 22 months of maturation in new French oak have delivered a textbook Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep, rich and complex, it will continue to improve in bottle for several years. Only 9 barrels made.
Price: $44/bottle Free shipping on 6+ bottles! • ACCOLADES •94 Points • Vintage 2005 •Winter rains took pause for a dry, mild March then began again with record-setting precipitation late into the growing season delaying bloom and set. The summer months were cool and pleasant with few heat spikes. Warm, nearly perfect conditions arrived with an Indian Summer making for a later than average harvest, providing fruit with extended hang time and ultimately realizing excellent sugar development and balanced acids. • TWO REMARKABLE Vineyards •Our "Mise en place" Cabernet Sauvignon comes from two very special single vineyard sites located on the extreme eastern side of the Oakville District abutting the rugged and dry Vaca Mountain Range. This sub-section of the Oakville AVA is renowned for superb, richly-textured Cabernet Sauvignon, including the likes of Screaming Eagle, PlumpJack and Rudd. Terrain is characterized by steep hills which bask in warm, sunny afternoons offering an ideal growing environment. The vineyards soils profiles include gravelly alluvium (eroded off the nearby mountains) covered by shallow gravelly loam and in some places large boulders. It is quite infertile and very well-drained. Planted in the early 1980's and 1990's these two sites clonal material includes 30 year-old heritage clones (likely from Beaulieu Block) as well as 4 and 337. Exemplary viticultural practices were employed in these mature sites, including cane pruning, extensive shoot thinning, leaf pulling and fruit thinning at fruit set. After veraison, we again culled unevenly ripened bunches which reduced yield to less than 4 pounds per vine (@ 3.25 tons/acre). • Winemaking •Our Cabernet Sauvignon bunches were field sorted, hand-harvested and then re-sorted at the winery on October 10 and October 12 at an average of 26.8 Brix. Once destemmed and crushed we "cold soaked" for 4 days in open-top temperature-controlled fermenters. On Day 5 we initiated fermentation with cultured yeast which progressed at 90°F. Several daily punchdowns kept the cap immersed in must and extracted superb flavor and structure. After three weeks on their skins we gently pressed the must into our French oak barriques where it slowly completed its ML fermentation. Barrels were of the highest quality; 100% French, 60% new, three-year air dried, medium toast with toasted heads and handcrafted by Boutes, Francois Frères and Nadalié. A small lot of hillside Cabernet Franc added structure while a touch of Oakville Merlot provided a dense softness and classic "Bordeaux Blend" profile. Twenty-two months in barrel with six hand rackings and two egg white finings integrated flavors perfectly and developed its wonderful, dense mouth-feel. Press fractions were not used. We bottled nine barrels in July 2007. It is called "Mise en place" to reflect the preparation and diligence exercised in the vineyards and winery. We believe it is a "textbook" example of this noble variety grown in this outstanding appellation. It can be enjoyed over the next decade. • Wine Facts • Regional Composition: 100% Oakville District
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