Chapter 8: 2022 Spring Release
Spring 2022 Release
I cannot tell you how excited I am to share this allocation with you all. 2019 was a banner year in our winemaking journey, which capped off the Twenty-teens, my first full decade of winemaking, in an incredible fashion.
We are releasing our first white wine, the 2021 GC Blanc, as well as Cabernet Sauvignon wines from Atlas Peak and Saint Helena. Here is a bit about each offering.
2021 GC BLANC is 100% Musque Clone Sauvignon Blanc from Wolf Family Vineyard, located on the Southern edge of St. Helena’s valley floor, almost exactly in the middle of the Mayacamas to the west and the Vaca range to the east, at one of the Valley’s most narrow points.
The grapes are pressed whole cluster and fermented in stainless steel and concrete tanks with no ML conversion. 1 small concrete tank, 1 stainless drum and 1 neutral oak barrel produced.
The Musque clone is on full display in our inaugural vintage of GC Blanc, showing a rounder, more luxurious style than its clone 1 counterpart. Aromatically stunning, with high tuned citrus, ripe pineapple and mango popping from the glass. On the palette the tropical fruit becomes the focus with meyer lemon custard undertones. The mouthfeel is vibrant with curves in all the right places. A victory for the winemaking team, our inaugural GC Blanc has set the bar high for our exploration of Napa Valley.
2019 LIFTED was created to showcase mountain-grown Cabernet Sauvignon. The elevation and soils give the wines a lift in tannin and natural acidity.
Hendrickson Family Ranch is located just south of Stage Coach Vineyard at the end of Soda Canyon Rd. Clone 7 thrives in the iron rich, red soils. The views from the site are incredible. The first visit feels like seeing a monument for the first time, truly one of the wonders of the wine world. On a clear day you can see the valley floor and the San Pablo. The green foliage, red landscape and blue skies make for a view that cannot be described in words.
We utilize pulse air and carefully monitor phenolics during fermentation, occasionally pressing early if we hit our color goals and start to see tannins rising. The wine was aged 20 months in 100% French Oak, 70% New (Taransaud, Francois Frerres, Leroi, Remond, Boute) 4 barrels produced
In the spectrum of our single vineyard wines, LIFTED delivers all you would expect from Atlas Peak grown Cabernet. Dark berry overtures with higher tuned red fruit are framed by moderate acidity and gripping tannins. Age-worthy Cabernet that will gain complexity for years to come.
2019 NEXT EPISODE was also grown at Wolf Family Vineyard. Saint Helena’s location up-valley makes for warm days with cooling effects in the evening from the chalk hill gap through the Mayacamas to the west and the San Pablo bay to the south.
Cabernet grown here does not struggle to get ripe and produces mouth filling, rich fruited wines framed well with acidity and tannin. Saint Helena’s valley floor is Napa Valley’s work horse, the backbone of many of our favorite wines from the region.
The wine was aged for 22 months in 100% French Oak, 75% New Oak. (Taransaud, Leroi) 4 barrels produced
The warm days, cool nights and well drained soils of Wolf Family vineyard are on full display in this Saint Helena grown show stopper. The 2019 is rich, complex and packed with dark berry fruit, with supple, silky tannins and juicy red undertones. The intensity of fruit is a signature of the region and is in line with the opulent, mouth-filling style of Napa Valley Cabernet that put the region on the map.
Extremely small volumes of each of these wines were produced and we anticipate a sellout during this allocation period. We have set aside a small volume for our library and for visitors at our tasting room. The team and I could not be more proud of the wines in this release and we cannot wait to share them with you all.
Cheers!