From the Winemaker's Desk: 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon - Winemaker's Edition

In early 2017, our winemaking team was standing around a barrel of our 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon, proud to conclude that the wine from that vintage was particularly excellent, and it was ready to be bottled.

As the conversation turned to future winemaking projects, the constant need to push the boundaries of expectations for our customers and ourselves begged the question:

"What is the best wine we can produce?"

We discussed fruit handling strategies, yeast selection, barrel selection, cap management techniques, and some of the less-talked-about factors in making great wine. Ultimately, we can only make great wine from great fruit, so we started there.

In the following months, we consulted with viticulturists in appellations known for the caliber of wine we wanted to produce. We sourced the best grapes we could find from the highest peaks of Red Hills.

Next, we determined our production strategy. We would lightly destem and sort the clusters of grapes so as not to rupture any berries and to assure that any fruit that made its way to this finished product was of exceptional ripeness and quality. We adapted our crusher to selectively crush only the physiologically mature berries, leaving more rigid-skinned berries whole to promote a more fruit-forward wine. Once crushed, the must would immediately be saignéed to aid in extraction. A long cold soak, followed by a temperature-controlled alcoholic fermentation with carefully selected yeast strains, worked together to coax the magnificent qualities of the original fruit into the finished wine.

We then placed the wine to rest for 24 months in the tightest grain French oak barrels we could find, where we regularly sampled it for bottle readiness. Though affectionately nicknamed "Ultra Cab" by our staff, this lush and balanced wine was bottled as a "Winemaker's Edition."

This wine which began as a test of our savoir faire has far exceeded our expectations. Before bottling it, we blind sampled this wine against many other premium brands, which command price points of several hundred dollars. The "Ultra Cab" lived up to its name.

During the four years of planning and execution to create this wine, we wanted to make wine that we love and test the boundaries of our capabilities. Many hands went into the final product, and as a result, we give tribute with the name "Winemaker's Edition." We made this wine to give our guests the very best of what we have to offer, and I believe we delivered.

. . .

Eric Harris

Owner & Director of Winemaking