Wines

2022 Cabernet Sauvignon
HILLSIDE RESERVE

This wine is full bodied with a ruby garnet color with concentrated flavors of red fruits and pronounced notes of cherry and blueberry.  A concentrated wine made with hillside fruit, it has soft tannins and long finish, this vintage can age beautifully over the next 10 years.

The hillside vines struggle more than valley vines and produce smaller grapes with greater concentration.

A blend of 97% Cabernet Sauvignon (clones 15 & 169)
3% Petite Verdot

Aged 12 months new and seasoned French oak casks



Suggested Food Pairings: 

Grilled steaks, prime rib, beef stews, short ribs, venison dishes, baked cod with crabmeat stuffing, hard cheeses like Parmigiana Reggiano.



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Winemaker's Notes

Growing Season

The growing season was long with warm summer days, tempered by cool nights from the cool ocean breeze that flows through the valley, perfect conditions for the long ripening needed for Cabernet.  The fruit was beautifully ripe with a perfect balance of sugars, phenolics, and acidity, with intense concentration of flavors.  

The 2022 vintage was a more typical growing season and this wine captures the essence of that season in each bottle.  A dry year with sunny summer temperatures allowed the two Cabernet clonal varieties and Petite Verdot to ripen evenly. 

The grapes were grown in premium hillside vineyard blocks that received less water which extended the ripening time and provided a longer growing season.  These hillside vines struggle more than valley vines and produce smaller grapes with greater concentration and tannin structure.  These ultra-premium grapes are selected for our 'RESERVE' wines.

After two weeks of fermentation, the wine was aged and matured in French oak casks for 12 months.

Harvest
The fruit was hand harvested in late-September and loaded into 36 pound lugs to avoid damage, and shipped in refrigerated trucks to preserve the freshness of the fruit.


Winemaking


Tasting Notes

An opulent wine with hillside fruit, soft tannins, and tremendous length to the finish, this superb vintage will age beautifully over the next 10 years.

Concentrated and full bodied with flavors of red fruits with pronounced notes of cherry and blueberry.

Highest Grade Sustainable Cork

Cork Grade 0 (rated 0-10, 0 being best)

Molinas Cork was started over 100 years ago by Pietro Molinas on the Italian island of Sardinia. Besides its beautiful beaches, Sardinia is known for its large, government protected Cork tree forests.

Today, the 4th generation of the Molinas family sustainably harvests cork from these protected trees. Different than most cork available in the market, the bark is allowed to mature an additional year. This leads to a less porous, higher quality cork, and has less impact on the forest. Throughout the entire process from tree to finished cork, quality control is strictly monitored and the trees are respected and protected for future harvests. 

We only use Molinas Cork grade 0 corks for our Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve wines which allows our top premium wines to age from 5-20 years.


Watch: Harvesting Cork in Sardinia

https://youtu.be/QSM-6rnvnkQ