Vintages
Current Releases
2010 Chardonnay
Split Rock – Sonoma
Despite a cool summer and late harvest, the wine shaped up nicely with excellent fruit, balanced acidity, and a slight floral note in the nose. We decided to let the wine continue to age in oak for the balance of 2011 and love the results!
Split Rock is located in the Sonoma Coast growing region on the west side of Sonoma Mountain. Its rocky soils combine with winds from the Petaluma Gap to create a challenging growing environment, but one that consistently produces great Chardonnay fruit. Most of the vineyard has optimal southwest exposure and is densely planted, which creates complex, concentrated fruit and excellent natural acidity.
2009 Cabernet Sauvignon
Rafael – Oak Knoll
The wine has great fruit intensity, ripe tannins, and balanced acidity. It has a complex nose of blackberry and black currant, with an earthy influence as well as clove and black pepper notes that add complexity. On the palate you’ll find great fruit intensity in the front, balance in the mid palate, and a balanced acidity and tannin structure that compliment each other in the finish, leading to a good length. The final blend is 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot and 3% Petite Verdot. Like the 2008, this wine will not only be approachable at release, but also very good several years from now.
Rafael Vineyard is a sloping hillside property in Oak Knoll. Located in the southern part of the Napa Valley, cooling breezes and morning fogs help the grapes retain assertive acids that warmer growing spots can’t match. The vines are planted in porous sands and gravel, which forces the roots to work deep into the ground in search of water. This natural devigoration helps produce smaller berries with balanced concentrations of tannins and acidity.
Future Releases
2011 Zinfandel
Teldeschi – Dry Creek Valley
This vineyard produces Zinfandel grapes from vines that are up to 115 years old. Yields are low and the grapes are packed with flavors of cherry, blackberry and boysenberry. The grapes are pure, dark and wild in the classic Dry Creek style, which produces big wines.
2010 Cabernet Sauvignon
Broken Rock – Napa Valley
The cool summer weather led to an extended growing season and relatively late harvest. This should make for a special vintage. Broken Rock is 48 acre vineyard is located on the eastern ridge of the Napa Valley near Soda Canyon. Wines from this region seem to have the best of mountainside structure, but with the ripe flavors from the valley floor. Planted at over 2,000 vines per acre on extremely low fertility soil, this vineyard produces concentrated fruit with purple-black color and ripe, dark fruit aromatics. The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are planted on a hillside that has a western exposure to ensure plenty of sun.
2010 Cabernet Sauvignon
River Run – St. Helena
Fans of our sold-out 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon will be happy to hear that we’ll have another Cab with grapes from River Run ready for release in late 2012. River Run is located just west of the Napa River on Zinfandel Lane in St. Helena. This 6-acre certified organic vineyard features gravelly soil and plenty of sun, making for intensely complex interpretations of Cabernet.
2011 Cabernet
Rafael – Oak Knoll
Our 2009 vintage shaped up so nicely that we decided to revisit Rafael for our 2011 vintage and keep it in our regular rotation. After a long, cool spring and late, low-yielding harvest we were on hand to sort and sample these grapes. They looked terrific and were packed with flavor– a great start for another wonderful vintage!
Previous Vintages
2008 Cabernet Sauvignon
River Run – St. Helena
Plenty of fruit characters complement the soundly structured tannins of this vintage. This wine has been approachable from the start, and is aging nicely as it continues to come into its own. River Run is a favorite vineyard that’s now in our regular rotation.
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon
Vineyard X – Oakville
This was a very limited production that sold-out quickly. The wine had a black cherry hue. A very nice blend of red and black fruits integrated with subtle herbal, spice and candied notes added layers to the nose. Full bodied in the entry, the wine’s fruit flavors hit their peak in the mid-palate and the polished tannins anchored the finish and enhanced its length.
Vineyard X is a property on the cooler end of Oakville, 2 miles south of To Kalon. It’s planted in deep, well-drained soils to the same clones and rootstock found at To Kalon. The vineyard produces wines with dark cherry, cassis and excellent structure for aging.
