The Experience
Aroma: Sweet cherry, cassis and ripe red raspberry fruit layered with baking spices (cinnamon, clove and nutmeg). Spicy oak aromas of vanilla and cedar, with just a hint of campfire and cocoa, complete the aroma impression.

Palate: Fresh cherry and plum fruit on entry, then displaying a core of sweet ripe raspberry which gives the wine a smooth, round syrupy texture. The flavors build with dark chocolate and brown sugar with a lingering finish of roasted nuts, pepper and cocoa.

The Vineyards
The grapes for our 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon came from two of our estate vineyards, Oakville and Calistoga. The 2003 growing season produced vines with good natural balance thus requiring less canopy management compared with the 2002 growing season. Conditions leading up to harvest were challenging with consistently warmer temperatures in September. With several heat spikes irrigation was critical. Low yields and a cool October allowed good physiological maturity and flavor development. In 2003 the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon blend was a mix of approximately one-third Napa Valley (Calistoga) appellation fruit and two-thirds Oakville Bench fruit. The Calistoga fruit contributes floral aromatics, mouth feel and finesse to the blend, while the Oakville fruit imparts structure and concentration.

The Winemaking
At Vine Cliff we employ gentle fruit handling and small batch fermentations to produce our cabernets. Our grapes are hand harvested and sorted before being destemmed into small stainless steel fermenters. At the conclusion of a 48 hour cold soak, the must is warmed and inoculated with cultured yeast to initiate fermentation. The maceration averaged two weeks for the 2003 vintage. When the ideal balance between flavor concentration and sweet tannin was reached the fermenter was drained and pressed. The free run wine was drained into 56% tight grain, center of France, Chateau style barrels for aging in the caves. Individual vineyard blocks are aged as separate wine lots until the final blend was determined. The 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon blend is 88% cabernet sauvignon, 9% cabernet franc and 3% petite verdot.

Wine Facts
Harvest Dates: September 23rd ~ October 21st , 2003
Growing Region: Oakville and Calistoga, Napa Valley
Cases Produced: 2447 cases
Bottling Date: May 17th, 2004

92 points - Wine Enthusiast
"A blend of Oakville, Rutherford and Calistoga, this Cab shows a classic Napa profile. The most beautifully ripe cassis and black cherries are the flavors, with a chocolate edge enrinched with classy, smoky oak, and the tannins are wonderfully rich and detailed. It doesn't seem like an ager, but if you're looking for an immaculate Cab tonight, this is the one."
- S.H., Wine Enthusiast, November 1, 2006

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