TASTING NOTES Concentrated and refined. The nose is very intense and complex with notes of chocolate, blackcurrants, and blackberries along with varietal aromas which confer a unique personality. The palate is rich, silky, and deep.

VINIFICATION The crop was picked entirely by hand into 15 kilogram (37 pound) packing cases and was then brought to the cellars where it was sorted and selected twice, once before and once after destemming. The grapes were then given a soft pressing and a cold five day maceration on their skins at 50° Fahrenheit (10° centigrade) in stainless steel tanks. Fermentation was then allowed to begin and temperatures to rise to 77° Fahrenheit (25° centigrade); skin contact lasted a total of 30 days, well beyond the transformation of sugars into alcohol. After fermentation the wine went into 100% new 60 gallon French oak barrels of various provenance, where it completed its malolactic fermentation by the end of the year. The period of oak aging lasted 18 months and during this period each individual barrel was carefully observed and controlled. At the end of the aging period it was decided to bottle (at 14° alcohol) only those barrels whose wine showed a superior integration with the oak.