2004 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

The weather during the 2004 vintage was typical of Napa. However, a week long heat wave in September desiccated 15-20% of our grapes. In our ongoing quest for top quality wines, we manually removed, in the vineyard, most of the dried berries. We repeated the operation on the sorting table. It was long, arduous work but such is the price of great wines. This resulted in strong powerful wines typical of the Napa valley. The Cabernet Reserve comes from two Cabernet blocks. One block brings a lot of structure and back bone while the other fills the wine with a nice, fleshy quality. The Petit Verdot adds structure to the blend while the Cabernet Franc adds aromatics and layering to the wine. The wine has very concentrated flavors and great tannic intensity. The wine was aged 22 months in French oak barrels on its lees and never racked. The lees coat the grape and oak tannins making the wine appear softer in its youth. It had such a distinctive character due to this extra attention. It is an age worthy wine.