2005

Alexander Valley Reserve

(Retail Price $50.00)

Appellation: Alexander Valley

Varietal Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc & Merlot

Soil: Alluvial, well-drained, gravelly loam

Harvest: Manually harvested at optimum ripeness and hand sorted in the vineyard. This vineyard block produced 3 tons per acre and was harvested on August 29th.

Technique: The fruit was destemmed and gently crushed into stainless steel fermentation tanks.  Inoculated with Pasteur Red yeast,  fermentation completed in 12 days. This wine was gently pumped over twice daily.  Held on the skins for an additional 10 days to complete malolactic fermentation and soften tannins. The wine was gently pressed in a bladder press,  racked off the gross lees and moved to barrels where the wine was racked quarterly to allow for natural clarification.  The final blend was assembled from hand selected individual barrels and bottled in May 2007.