THE VINEYARDS:
Gravelly soils are responsible for some of the world’s greatest wines. With their superior draining properties and lack of nutrients, they encourage better balanced vines, less sprawl, smaller berries and more intense wines. Gravel Bed Red, as the name suggests, is a proprietary blend showcasing some of the best gravelly sites in Sonoma County. Our 2014 bottling features Cabernet from three superb, rocky/volcanic sites in Sonoma Valley: Cherryblock, Mountain Terraces and Bedrock. Most of the Merlot in the blend came from gravelly blocks at the Lyon Vineyard in the Alexander Valley. The Malbec comes from Chalk Hill in the Russian River and the wine is rounded out with small amounts of Petit Verdot from Meola Vineyard in Alexander Valley.
THE VINTAGE:
2014 was our second drought year throughout winter and spring. Therefore, we had early bud break in March and some erratic weather during May. Crop levels were average due to shatter. Summer was consistently warm, but in our eyes not too extreme. The warm weather lasted until early fall making for an unseasonably early harvest and presenting a more fruit forward vintage. The grapes were harvested September 12th to October 14th at optimum ripeness. We harvested all of the grapes under clear night skies.
WINEMAKING:
We cold soaked many of the lots to increase color and flavor extraction. All of the grapes were fermented warm and only a small portion of press wine was included for aromatics and structure. Tannin levels were moderate to high, thus, needing more fining than in past vintages. After fermentation, all of the individual lots were racked off the lees and put into a combination of Hungarian, American and thin-stave French oak barrels for 10 months. The wine was bottled in January of 2016.
WINEMAKER’S NOTES:
The 2014 Gravel Bed Red is dark purplish to ruby in color. Its nose is swarming with Cabernet spice, currant, black cherries, coconut wood aromatics and hints of black tea. The flavor is fruit forward with delicious blackberries followed by raspberry, underbrush tones, and dried leaves. The finish has great acidity and tannins which helps reign in the generous fruit afforded by a riper season.
COMPOSITION:
67% Cabernet Sauvignon
18% Merlot
12% Malbec
3% Petit Verdot
AGING: 10 months in Hungarian, American and French Oak Barrels
ALCOHOL: 14.5%
TA: 0.55 g/100 ml
pH: 3.80