Vineyard Notes:

This very limited and special bottling of Cabernet Sauvignon comes from a blend of Gary Morisoli’s vineyard on Niebaum Lane and Mike Morisoli’s vineyard, just a stone’s throw away. Mike and Gary are 3rd generation Napa Valley grape growers, beginning with the Morisoli Family planted grapes in western Rutherford in early 1950’s. The vineyards are located in the heart of the famous “Rutherford Bench”, an area of well-drained, alluvial soils below Mt. St. John that produce fine-grain “dusty” and supple tannins and where some of the most notable Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa Valley is grown. It is a tribute to their family’s hard work and dedication to growing the finest grapes in Napa Valley.

Winemaking Notes:

The grapes are harvested at night into ½ ton bins, arriving at the winery early morning and very cold. They are “de-stemmed”, berry sorted and crushed to tank. The initial “cold-soak” (no fermentation) of the grapes is 3-4 days at 50ºF. Multiple lots were fermented in stainless steel, with a small amount in 60-gallon barrels for “barrel-fermentation”; tank peak temperature is typically 92ºF; and the yeast strain is Premier Cuvee. The wine is tasted twice a day to evaluate the color and tannin extraction from the skins and seeds.

For this wine we are looking for a careful balance of deep red pigment intensity, complexity of flavors and balance in the mid-palate, and overall tannin content. Once these are at an optimum in the wine, we drain the free-run juice from the skins to another tank and keep separate the hard press wine, which will be evaluated and aged separately. Once the new wine has settled in tank (3-4 days) we rack off the gross grape solids (lees) and move to barrels. The 2nd fermentation (called Malolactic) will then proceed in small barrels over several months.

This highly limited wine is available to Gold, President's, and Hall of Fame members only. Not currently in one of these clubs? Contact us to learn more. 707-963-7774

Limit 3 bottles per person.

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