Phoenix Vineyards & Rancho Napa Wines - 1998 NV Cabernet Sauvignon

1998 NV Cabernet Sauvignon

Price:	$ 30

91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc
Aged 20 months in French and American Oak

Details:

WINEMAKERS NOTES

Varietal %s: 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9%Cabernet Franc(100% Napa Valley, over 40% Estate)
Date of Harvest: Oct 18th, 20th and 27th; Nov 3rd through Nov 20th
Brix at Harvest: 2 1.2-24.0 Brix
End Alcohol: 14.2%
Length of Ferment:8-10 days with up to 41 days total skin contact time (30 days avg.)
Time in Oak:First 10 months in 50% new French Oak with older French and American Oak barrels, last 10 months in 3-5 year old French and American oak barrels (20 months total time)
Bottled August 6th, 2000 (No fining or filtration)
506 cases produced

The 1998 growing season was unseasonably cool for the North Coast of California. It started with a cool and wet spring season. This pattern delayed budbreak and led to a poor fruit set which cut our crop levels as much as 60% from 1997 (for example our Hill block Cabernet Sauvignon yielded less than 1 tQn per acre!). The damp spring also kept the green tissues of the vines succulent and tender into the early summer months. An intense heat wave hit the Napa Valley in June and burned many vines and grape clusters with some wineries seeing more than 10% loss of crop from only a few days of hot weather. Luckily for us, Vineyard Manager David Bader timed his irrigation schedule to mitigate such an emergency. Our grapes emerged unscathed for the most part. The strange weather continued as the summer cooled back down and by October l~ most wineries had barely even started harvesting. After a storm scare passed in early October the sun re-emerged and the following 3 weeks were warm and sun-filled. Our Estate lots of Cabernet were brought in before November. Other small lots in Oakville and Yountville were harvested in November.

In the winery we continued to work with long skin contact periods as we did with the 1997 vintage. This Cabernet Sauvignon, for instance was the beneficiary of the longest skin contact times we have used to date. Leaving the skins to soak with the newly fermented wine helped develop a soft finish and lingering aftertaste due to a resolution of the harsh tannins while still in the fermenting tanks. Both manual mixing of the tanks (punching down) and pump-over techniques were used during the ferments to greater aerate the young wines and aid in the gentle extraction of characters from the grapes. As with all of our red wines, this vintage Cabernet Sauvignon was bottled without fining or filtration to preserve maximum character in the bottle.

At this point the 1998 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is showing a complex aroma profile with sage, black pepper, cola, cherry and hints of vanilla with exposure to air. It is a wine more concerned with elegance than with brute extract. The flavors range from meat and plum to cassis and caramel as they linger into the soft finish. This wine will pair very well with many dishes including beef, lamb and duck or even sauteed portabello mushrooms with garlic and Parmesan cheese. As such, it should provide many years of enjoyment. Salud!