The Vine Cliff Winery Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a wine crafted from our Estate Vineyards in Oakville and Calistoga. In 2005 the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon blend was a mix of approximately 5% Calistoga Pickett Ranch fruit and 95% Oakville Estate fruit. The Calistoga fruit contributes floral aromatics, mouth feel and finesse to the blend, while the Oakville fruit imparts structure and concentration.

The 2005 growing season began in late spring with cool rainy weather. The long summer was very moderate and encouraged extra vine growth and increased cluster and berry size. The extra growth required constant work in the vineyard thinning shoots, thinning clusters, removing excess leaves and top canes. The long cool season was perfect for developing grapes with good maturity and flavors and with the sugar levels coming in slightly lower than in past vintages. We look forward to the resulting wines having great elegance and balance.

Gentle fruit handling, small batch fermentation and attention to detail describes the way we handle our grapes. The grapes are handpicked and sorted before being de-stemmed into small stainless steel fermenters. After a 48 hour cold soak, the must was warmed and inoculated with yeast. The average maceration time was 8 days. The goal of maceration is the extraction of flavors and fruit concentration, without the extraction of harsh tannins. Lees egg white fining was used, enriching the wine. Individual vineyard blocks are aged in French Chateau barrels for 18 months, until the final blend was determined. The 2005 blend is 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Petit Verdot.

Harvest dates: October 11th ~ November 5 th , 2005
Growing region: Napa Valley
Cases produced: 2122 cases
Bottling date: May 11 th , 2007

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