Winemaker's Note
To develop this wine’s complex fruit expression, we first cold-soaked the destemmed grapes for gentle flavor extraction. During fermentation, regular pumpovers incorporate the flavor-rich skins into the juice. Malolactic fermentation, which naturally changes the malic acid into softer lactic acid, rounds the flavors. The wine is barrel aged in French oak (40% new) for 16 months.
Vintage Notes
The 2016 vintage was an outstanding year for high quality, fully-developed fruit with concentrated color and flavor. The Napa Valley region enjoyed extensive rains during the winter months which significantly helped battle the ongoing drought and encouraged overall yield numbers. A cooler than normal August pushed out the start of harvest and allowed fruit considerable hang time, which resulted in wines with bright aromatics and generous, dark fruit flavors.