HARVESTED: October 9, 2013
VINEYARD LOCATION: In Saratoga, off the historic Mount Eden Road where some of California’s first
vines were planted over 100 years ago, set high on a steep southeast facing slope rests the venerable
“Lonehawk” vineyard.
SOILS: Deep gravelly loam
BOTTLED: Feburary 2015, 118 cases
COMPOSITION: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
ALCOHOL: 13.9%, PRODUCTION: 65 cases, WINEMAKER: Colin McNany
VINTAGE NOTES
A warm, dry spring brought early bud break, helped with canopy vigor and berry size and created ideal
conditions for flowering and fruit set under sunny skies. Temperatures were consistently in the zone for
optimal vine activity, resulting in notably healthy vines as fruit went through veraison and started ripening.
The August 1 start of harvest in Napa was the earliest in recent history, however, Santa Cruz was roughly
2 weeks behind, which put us slightly earlier than schedule, dependent on site. A little extra hang time
gave us thicker skins for deeper flavours.
WINEMAKING NOTES
Lonehawk is our highest-end Cabernet vineyard, as well as the only vineyard designate. The entire lot
was destemmed, hand sorted, and tipped into a 3 ton open top stainless steel tank. The fruit was cold
soaked for 5 days and then inoculated with the BDX commercial yeast strain. The ferment received a
mixture of punchdowns and pumpovers to promote extraction. The wine is kept on skins up to 20 days
via extended maceration. Aged in 25% new French oak for 22 months with 100% native malolactic
fermentation. Racked once to tank, gravity feed to bottle.
TASTING NOTES
Fresh cranberries, dried lavender, juniper spice and cigar box give way to a briny mouthfeel with firm
dusty tannins.
CELLARING
Enjoy between now and 10 years.