Cabernet Sauvignon
picked
October 5, 2016
Waxing crescent moon
pressed
November 2, 2016
Waxing crescent moon
racked
August 7, 2017
Full moon
bottled
June 15, 2018
Waning crescent moon
Some Cabernets want you to sit up straight and keep your elbows off of the table. Ours wants you to slow dance to your favorite song and kick back with friends that don’t care where you sit. Make no mistake, this is a serious wine, an explosively aromatic one with black cherry, black plum, clove, violets and black pepper. There’s also a deep, earthy quality with green bean and fennel aromas. On the mouth, expect rich flavors and subtle savory notes. This is a focused wine, a precise one, that lingers on the palate with the slightest kiss of French oak.
- ABV 14%
- Vintage 2016
- Region Santa Barbara County
- Varietal 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Food Pairing
Grilled filet mignon, Coq Au Vin, braised short ribs, roasted and caramelized vegetables.
Vineyard Notes
We were happy to see increased yields from 2015. The vines saw a bit more rain and we had good fruit set in the spring. Overall, the growing season was cooler than the previous year, but heat later in the season helped to ripen the crop by early October.
Production Notes
This our first 100% varietal wine of Cabernet. The grapes were hand-picked and sorted, then fermented in a mixture of wood, stainless steel and cement tanks. Utilizing varied fermentation vessels added to the complexity of the final blend, and the wine was aged 20 months in a mixture of new and used barriques before being bottled.
CASES: 166
SOLD OUT
Cabernet Franc
picked
September 6, 2016
Waning crescent moon
pressed
October 15, 2016
Full moon
racked
August 7, 2017
Full moon
bottled
June 15, 2018
Waxing crescent moon
As you may know, Cab Franc is my spirit animal. Like a hummingbird, unique and aggressive with its love. This wine is a seductress, with its briar raspberry, nutmeg and vanilla on the nose, along with herbal notes, green olive and black pepper. There’s a dusty earth quality that follows through on the palate, with a beautiful balance of savory and fruit, masculine and feminine. This is an elegant wine, with fine tannins and a long, energetic finish.
- ABV 14%
- Vintage 2016
- Region Santa Barbara County
- Varietal 95% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon
Food Pairing
Roasted meat, mushroom risotto or pasta with mushrooms and herbs, cranberry salad, raspberry vanilla tart.
Vineyard Notes
We thought 2016 was going to be another very early year because of early bud break and growth, but were pleasantly surprised when things cooled down in May. Summer was not too hot and as we got into August the cooler temps, especially at night, helped to slow things down and allow the grapes to mature gradually. The vines were beautifully balanced, which resulted in a perfectly ripened crop.
Production Notes
All the grapes were hand-picked and meticulously sorted before going into open top wood tank for fermentation. This wine was allowed to go through native fermentation, like all of our wines do. A combination of gentle punchdowns and pumpovers were used during the fermentation.
CASES: 86
SOLD OUT
Petit Verdot
picked
September 22, 2016
Third quarter moon
pressed
November 1, 2016
Waxing crescent moon
racked
August 7, 2017
Full moon
bottled
June 15, 2018
Waning crescent moon
This here is a Viking wine. Light a fire, rug yourself up in a dark lair with someone sexy (it could just be you) and prepare to be seduced. Not many people make a stand alone Petit Verdot, but in this soil and in this place, it is absolutely magical. This is a brooding walk through a winter forest, with perfumed sage, cedar, black pepper, fig and blueberry aromas. You may also notice tobacco, mushroom and baking chocolate. Huge, silky tannins, with a knock out finish.
- ABV 15.2%
- Vintage 2016
- Region Santa Barbara County
- Varietal 85% Petit Verdot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon
Food Pairing
Grilled steak, swordfish with caponata, cheese platter (featuring Stilton) with dried fruit and fig-spiced chutney, salt baked fish, spicy foods, mole sauce, sweet potato pie with licorice ice cream.
Vineyard Notes
2016 saw another year of early bud break and growth, but steadied once things cooled down in May, during which time we took extra care to make sure our Petit Verdot crop levels were in perfect balance with the vines. A cooler August kept the grapes ripening at a steady pace then a heat wave in mid-September helped the flavors fully develop.
Production Notes
Grapes were brought in early in the morning and after destemming and carefully hand sorting, the fruit was fermented in stainless steel closed top tanks and a wood puncheon. A long maceration and slow fermentation helped to gently extract flavor and tannin, avoiding adding any harsh tannins or an overly aggressive structure. The wine was aged in a combination of new and neutral oak before bottling.
CASES: 80
SOLD OUT