Five Cabernet Sauvignon clones are planted around the estate. They give us an excellent palette of aromas and flavors select from when assembling our blends. The 2006 Private Stock - 16 Rows, is created using the most intense, concentrated cabernet lots, chosen from our fourteen individual vineyard blocks, ranging from steep, hillside terraces to flat, red, rocky soil. Their struggle in this challenging environment leads to wine with the unique flavor and concentration for which the Oakville appellation is renowned.

In 2006 the growing season started with a cool spring followed by record setting heat in July. The result was compact flowering and fruit set with even fruit maturity and ripening. Normal summer growing conditions and cool weather in October resulted in long hang time, good favor development and great concentration.

Gentle fruit handling, small batch fermentations, and attention to detail are the foundations of our winemaking philosophy . Our grapes are hand-picked in the cool early morning, making the fruit less susceptible to damage during processing. Individual vineyard blocks are triple sorted, destemmed, and placed into small stainless steel fermentation tanks. For the 2006 vintage, the grapes were cold soaked for two days before the must was warmed and fermentation initiated. Smaller berries in 2006 allowed for excellent color, flavor and tannins. The fermentation was carefully monitored, temperature controlled and pumped over in order to get the precise extraction of fruit flavors and concentration of tannins desired. When the right balance and flavor was reached, the free run wine was gravity fed and aged separately in a special selection of Chateau style French oak barrels. In the spring the young wines were meticulously blended to create this singular wine. It was then barrel aged for an additional year to gain oak flavor and complexity, and to encourage integration. Our 2006 Private Stock Cabernet – 16 Rows final blend is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc.

Harvest dates:
      - Cabernet Sauvignon: October 24th ~ October 25th, 2006
      - Cabernet Franc: October 19th, 2006
Growing region: Oakville, Napa Valley
Cases produced: 304 cases
Bottling date: May 5th, 2008

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