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The Wine
This wine is made from unblended, 100% estate-grown, cellared,
and bottled grapes. Lovely
garnet color. In the nose, lingonberries, carnberries and spice.
The
wine has as soft, smooth mouth-feel with raspberries, cranberries,
allspice, and that telltale signature of briar that
distinguishes Cabernet Franc. The finish is lovely and looooong.
A wonderfully versatile wine that
pairs nicely with a wide range of foods, including poultry, pork,
lamb, and even some beef entrees!
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The Vintage
The 2004 rainy season was dryer than normal with approximately
24 inches of rain than ended by March. This was followed by temperatures
in high 80's during the last two weeks of March that stimulated
early vineyard growth and budbreak. The season then cooled down
through April and May. We had some heat spikes in August and
again in September, but the overall temperature was generally
cooler than average. All the components of a great growing season.
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Fermentation and Aging
The grapes were picked by hand, destemmed, and fermented in
a small lot temperature-controlled stainless steel fermentor
with hand punch or pumpover down four times a day. After pressing,
the wine went through malolactic fermentation and 11 months of
barrel aging.
. 554 cases were bottled
in August 2005.
The Vineyard
Our five acres of Cabernet Franc vines date back to the original
stock brought to our “Chaine d’Or” region by
French settler and grape expert Pierre C. Pourroy around the turn
of the century. The Pourroy property became Congress Springs
Winery, as it was known until recent changes of ownership.
Our vines were planted in 1985 with cuttings from Congress Springs
on west-facing slopes at the western edge of our property.
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