The wine opens with a deep garnet hue and aromas of dark fruit and spice. On the palate, the wine reveals generous notes of ripe Italian marasca cherries, smashed blackberries and freshly cut cedar planks. A sweet, inviting texture, this wine is rich and withholding upfront, evolving to a mouth-watering and lingering finish. Raison d'Etre’s remarkable structure will allow the wine to age gracefully over the next 10 to 15 years.
Vineyards
Critics
100 Points
Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate, October 1, 2018
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Raison d'Etre is a barrel selection wine, made entirely from estate fruit and bottled in late May 2018. Composed of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Cabernet Franc and 1% Merlot, it's deep garnet purple in color and features a beguiling array of black berry, black cherry, warm blueberry and cassis notes with sparks of cigar box, wood smoke, charcuterie and Chinese five spices plus a touch of dried Mediterranean herbs. Full, rich, concentrated and seductive in the mouth, the juxtaposition between the firm, superbly ripe, velvety frame, fantastic freshness and the depth of fruit is just incredible! It finishes multilayered and so compelling you will be reaching for that glass as soon as you put it down. 100 cases made.
Winemaking
- Alcohol:
- 15.1
- Bottled:
- May 30, 2018
After harvest in the cool morning hours, grapes were hand-sorted, then gently destemmed. The resulting whole berries were hand-sorted again, then a portion were delivered to ferment in 500L oak puncheons to soften the tannins and deepen the color. The remaining berries were fermented in stainless steel open-top tanks to capture a juicy and fresh flavor profile. Once complete, the fruit was gently pressed and moved to barrel to finish fermentation. The wine aged in 100% new French oak barrels for 19 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered in May 2018.
