Pièce de Résistance is our crowning achievement, the very finest barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon of the vintage, soulfully and authentically articulating vineyard and variety. The 2019 vintage teems with plum and cassis, cedar, and clove that progress to earthy notes of fresh sage and Castelvetrano olive, seemingly boundless layers interplaying and unveiling with time in the glass. Soft and luscious initially, firm yet graceful tannins offer texture and structure on the rich, expansive palate, realizing a profound balance of intensity and elegance. The focused core of ripe blackberry, dark plum, and black cherry surges over hints of sarsaparilla, vanilla, and leather, unfurling to an exceptionally long finish of dusty cocoa tannins. –Katie Vogt
Vineyards
- Upper Range
Critics
97 Points
Joe Czerwinski, The Wine Advocate, May 31, 2022
An all-Cabernet Sauvignon selection from the Bettinelli-farmed Upper Range Vineyard. Aged in only new French oak—and from only four-year-old vines—this is dark and plummy, mingled with black cherries and earth, plus hints of cedar and vanilla. Full-bodied and richly concentrated, it's a big, powerful wine yet also mouthwatering and elegant, with cocoa and coffee accents on the lingering, gently tannic finish.
Winemaking
- Winemaker:
- Katie Vogt
- Alcohol:
- 16.1
- Harvested:
- October 25 to October 25, 2019
- Bottled:
- May 1, 2021
- Released:
- October 1, 2022
Four select blocks of Upper Range Vineyard were hand-harvested in the cool pre-dawn hours. Clusters, segregated by block, were hand-sorted, gently destemmed, and delivered as whole berries into open-top fermenters—50% oak puncheons to intensify aroma, flavor, and color extraction--for three weeks of 100% native yeast fermentation. Only free-run juice was transferred to 100% new French oak barrels to complete primary and secondary fermentations. After 18 months of aging, six barrels proved absolutely stunning, worthy of becoming our Pièce de Résistance. These were cellar blended and aged for an additional two months, a total of 20 months, before being bottled unfined and unfiltered in May 2021.
