The 2009 Proprietary Red is at once elegant, rich and powerful. Brilliant purple in color, aromas of wildflower and rose oil deepen as the wine opens. Flavors of cassis, huckleberry and tar are accented by notes of smoked meats and cardamom. Polished, fine-grained tannins are supple and silky. The multi-layered finish relaxes and evolves with time, indicating age-worthiness.
Composition
82% Cabernet Sauvignon
7% Merlot
7% Cabernet Franc
3% Petit Verdot
1% Malbec
Vineyards
- Pahlmeyer Estate Vineyard,
- Rancho Chimiles,
- Stagecoach,
- Las Amigas Vineyard
Critics
94 Points
James Laube, Wine Spectator, August 2012
This Bordeaux-like expression offers a mix of cedar-laced tobacco, dried berry, loamy earth and herbal notes. Young and tightly wound, this unfolds slowly and gracefully, and looks like an ideal choice to lay down.
93 Points
Antonio Galloni, Wine Advocate #198, December 2011
The 2009 Red Blend emerges from the glass with freshly cut flowers, mint, spices, minerals and pure, crystalline, dark red fruit. This is a gorgeous wine endowed with remarkable finesse. The style is weightless, elegant and totally refined. I especially like the way the wine fleshes out in the glass.
Winemaking
- Winemaker:
- Erin Green
- Alcohol:
- 15.2%
- Harvested:
- September 21 to October 28, 2009
- Bottled:
- April 21, 2011
- Released:
- September 1, 2012
The grape clusters were hand-sorted, and once de-stemmed, the berries were sorted again by hand on the way to tank. After four to five days of pre-fermentation cold maceration in small open-top fermentors, the fruit began 100% native yeast fermentation. Two to three weeks later, the fruit was gently pressed and moved to barrel where it finished primary and secondary fermentations. The wine continued to age in 85% new French oak – a combination of Taransaud and St. Martin barrels – for eighteen months. It was bottled unfined and unfiltered.
