2006 Alexander Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Proprietor Fritz Stuhlmuller
Winemakers Leo Hansen

Stuhlmuller Vineyards is located at the southern edge of the Alexander Valley, where it converges with two other highly regarded Sonoma County appellations, Chalk Hill and the Russian River Valley. On its eastern edge, the 150-acre vineyard borders the Russian River. Situated in a unique location that is part river benchlands and part hillside, the vineyard benefits from its alluvial gravel soils and the more rocky soils that comprise the hillside sections of the vineyard.

The fruit for this Cabernet Sauvignon emphasizes three different clones, grown on three separate blocks. From the river benchland we use a block of Clone 337 for its fruit-forward black cherry flavors. On an adjacent block, planted 20 years ago, we grow a field selection from the Belle Terre Vineyard, which produces grapes with tannic concentration and beautiful blue fruit notes. And lastly, from a terraced hillside block we use Clone 7 fruit, which adds floral layers and classic Cabernet cassis and cherry elements to the wine.

After a wet cool spring, the 2006 growing season produced a mild summer with no major heat spikes, or unusually hot days. To ensure ideal physiological ripeness we let the fruit hang on the vines until late October, handpicking our Cabernet in five rounds beginning on October 20 and concluding on Halloween. Our patience paid off, and the grapes came in with good tannins, excellent structure and beautifully articulated flavors.

During harvest we picked by block to ensure optimum maturity in the fruit. In the winery, the clusters were gently destemmed. For fermentation we used a mix of open-top tanks with manual punching-down of the cap, and closed-top tanks where the must was pumped over. The closed-top tanks were used to create better palate texture, while the open-top tanks were utilized to help retain fruit intensity in the must. The finished wine, composed almost entirely of free-run juice, was drained from the tank and racked to 40 percent new French oak barrels where the wines underwent malolactic fermentation. Each block was fermented and aged separately for 10 months before an initial blend was made. Our 2006 Cabernet was barrel aged for a total of 18 months.

This wine displays an inviting dark ruby color that segues to aromas of black cherry, blackberry, tealeaf, anise, currant and clove. The rich and creamy mouthfeel echoes the bouquet with juicy layers of blackberry, dark cherry and currant, accented by spicy oak and fine-grained tannins.