The 2008 vintage featured a dry spring with serious frost damage in some vineyards and cool bloom-time conditions, which, coupled together, produced a light crop. It was a mild summer with a few heat spikes in July, August and early September. Harvest was about nine days earlier than normal due to the small crop and the accelerated ripening from the warm temperatures. We started picking in Alexander Valley on September 1st and concluded harvest on October 3rd.
Our 2008 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, selected from several different vineyards throughout the appellation, is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. We blended the vineyard lots in early 2009 and transferred the wine to 50% new and 50% once-used American oak barrels for aging. Blending prior to barreling allows us to achieve a balance of the wine’s natural elements, such as fruit and tannin, before they are influenced by oak. The wine was then aged in barrel for approximately 24 months and another 15 months in bottle to harmonize its components before release.
Our 2008 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has been included in Wine & Spirits Magazine's “Year's Best Cabernet Sauvignon” article! Joshua Greene of Wine & Spirits Magazine says:
“Like a savory claret pumped up on performance-enhancing California climate, this is nuanced and relatively austere for all its bold, plumy fruit. The supple richness of tannins lends it textural finesse, the quality of Silver Oak that may be most responsible for its legend. The alcohol is finely integrated so as to be imperceptible. Still youthfully floral, this will age with grace.”
