2010 Silencieux Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
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Wine Specs
Vintage
2010
Varietal
Cabernet Sauvignon
Appellation
Napa Valley
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
Our family has farmed Cabernet Sauvignon in the Napa Valley for nearly a half-century. Over the many years we have carefully chosen vineyard sources that speak to the complexity of their appellations through the quality of fruit they produce. This wine opens with scents of blackberries, cassis, licorice and coffee that lead to a concentrated, full-bodied wine that showcases great length on the palate. Ap-proachable upon release, and cellar worthy in proper aging conditions, fans of our Bone Ash Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and our Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon will love this wine for its fruit concentration, beautiful complexity and structure. This is the third vintage of Silencieux (see-lens-see-oh, Silent One) Cabernet Sauvignon and it is a blockbuster effort. This is largely the result of our vineyard selec-tions for this year’s release.
Vineyard Notes
22 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from five vineyard locations were harvested to produce the 2010 vintage. Each vineyard yielded an average of 1.2 to 1.6 tons per acre, giving us densely concentrated color and flavor.
Venge’s Calistoga Estate “Bone Ash Vineyard”: This alluvial bench vineyard is in a warmer appellation of the Napa Valley and is proving to be an ideal location for growing Cabernet Sauvignon. Now in their 24th leaf, the vines are dry-farmed and sustainably-farmed and provide sweet cassis, rich red fruit flavors, and elegance to the structure of the wine.
Venge’s Oakville Estate Vineyard: A classic location set in the center of Oakville, this 27 year old vineyard sees warm days and cool nights that have made Oakville a desired appellation for growing Bordeaux varieties for decades. This location is 10 degrees cooler than our Calistoga Estate and provides wonderful blackberry, mint, and blue fruit notes and a subtle, complex herbaciousness to the blend.
H&H Vineyard, Mount Veeder, Eastern Hillside Exposure: This cool climate, hillside location is 10 degrees cooler than Saint Helena, and 15 degrees cooler than Calistoga, on average. It provides classic Cabernet varietal characteristics of mint, blackberry, and cassis, along with the necessary backbone and elegance we look for in our age-worthy Cabernets.
Tudal Estate Vineyard, North Saint Helena Alluvial: This small vineyard stands in an ideal alluvial formation of gravelly loam that drains to the Napa River. Bold, tannic, and packed with dark red fruit, it adds a perfect splash of body and color.
Frazier Estate Vineyard, Coombsville Hills: Topped by Mt. George and Atlas Peak, the elevations in this area range from 300 to 1200 feet above the valley floor. Blanketed with volcanic ash, the terrain is lush to very rocky, with alluvial flows and cobblestones that hold water during the dry sum-mer months, making for perfect dry farming conditions. Located near the San Pablo Bay in South-East Napa, this climate easily achieves optimum ripe-ness while retaining a fair amount of structural acidity that results in a plush, dark, brooding element to the core of the blend.
Production Notes
The fruit was destemmed into small stainless steel fermentors and time on skins lasted 14 to 40 days. The fruit was then lightly pressed, keeping “free run” and “press” fractions separate and aged in a combination new (50%) and used French Oak barrels for 22 months. A combination of native and inoculated yeast allows the completion of primary and secondary fermentation.
Winemaker Notes
1325 Cases Produced