2009 Alexander Valley Estate Cabernet
This wine is dark and voluptuous, with intense Cabernet aromas of black cherry, cassis, blue fruit, black licorice and violets. These elements continue on the palate, where they are supported by soft, fine-grained tannins and fresh acidity. The finish is long and creamy with hints of sweet oak and spice.
Wine Specs
Vintage
2009
Varietal
Cabernet Sauvignon
Acid
0.60 g/100ml
PH
3.83
Bottling Date
August 2011
Alcohol %
14.2
Stephen Tanzer's
90
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
This wine is dark and voluptuous, with intense Cabernet aromas of black cherry, cassis, blue fruit, black licorice and violets. These elements continue on the palate, where they are supported by soft, fine-grained tannins and fresh acidity. The finish is long and creamy with hints of sweet oak and spice.
Vineyards
The fruit for this Cabernet emphasizes three clones, from 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 over 20 years ago, we grow a field selection from the Belle Terre Vineyard, which produces grapes with tannic concentration and 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.
The Vintage
We used a mix of open-top tanks with manual punching-down, and closed-top tanks where the must was pumped over. The closed-top tanks added to palate texture, while the open-top tanks helped to retain fruit intensity. The wine was racked to 46 percent new French oak and underwent native malolactic fermentation. Each block was fermented and aged separately for 10 months before blending, with barrel aging for a total of 20 months.
Product Reviews
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Janet Merz
(Mar 22, 2013 at 3:00 PM)
Had dinner in San Francisco last night. Chose this wine. What a delight!