2008 Barnett Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker’s Notes: 2008 was a dynamic year. The growing season was warm and long into autumn, yet in the later part of fall things cooled down and the grapes had a slower then average time to reaching maturity. Valley rains did not reach us up here on the mountain to the same degree, and after a few showers passed through we had a few weeks of warmth allowing the grapes to reach proper physiological ripeness. The grapes were sourced from our Estate, neighboring York Creek, and Crowley Vineyards, with the entire blend being solely from the Spring Mountain Appellation. Each Vineyard block was fermented and aged separately for 12 months then blended & followed by another 10 months in barrel. This wine was aged in French oak barrels with 65% new. The small additions of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot brought up the spice and perfume in the nose and gave the wine a little more backbone and fuller color.   This beautiful Cabernet greets you immediately with a deep purple core. The nose is very lifted with sweet flowers, ripe raspberry, ground pepper and black licorice.  Classic Spring Mountain minerality is also apparent, with wet stone and graphite in the background.  The wine has a decent viscosity to it, with brighter black cherry fruit, vanilla bean and crushed flowers coming though on the pallet. The tannins are well integrated but youthful, and the natural Spring Mountain acidity is well balanced with the rest of the wine. This is one to hold, since the wine will come together nicely over the next 9-12 years (2019-2022).