Oakville, Napa Valley

Our 2016 Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is a powerhouse effort from our Oakville Estate Vineyard. This wine features beautiful dark red and purple hue that clings to the glass. The aromatics are plush and highly perfumed with ripe black cherries, clove, cinnamon, blackberries and currants. The palate is full and expansive. There is no pocket of the mouth unfilled or escaping this wine’s sumptuous composition. The flavors captured in this Cabernet wash over the front and through to the back of the palate for over two minutes past the initial impressions. Anticipated maturity is 2020 to 2035.

In The Vineyard

Harvest took place early on October 3rd. The cane-pruned vines were hand harvested from our Venge Estate vineyard in Oakville. The 2016 vintage was ideal producing a stellar crop. Now in their 29th year, we continue to sustainably “dry farm” these vines by not allowing them any applied summer irrigation. Their roots must find water on their own and struggle in the final months of summer and early fall leading to a complexity and depth of flavor often unequaled in irrigated vineyards.

In the Cellar

The fruit was destemmed into a combination of small stainless steel tank fermenters, concrete vats, and open top barriques. Time on skins lasted 14 to 45 days. The fruit was then separated to “free run” and “light press” fractions. The Cabernet was aged in 100% new, tight grained, French Oak barrels for a lengthy 27 months. We employ a variety of cooperages for Cabernet including Boutes, Sylvain, Taransaud, Gamba and Alain Foquet. 100% native, spontaneous yeast and malolactic fermentations were also key ingredients in the making of this wine. The gentle use of gravity flow winemaking, whenever possible, is carefully exercised throughout the making of this and every Venge wine. Bottled unfiltered.