2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Magnum

Vineyard: Located at the northern terminus of the Alexander Valley, Cloverdale Ranch is home to Block 21, a three-acre parcel and the namesake of our Cabernet Sauvignon. The ranch is 135 total planted acres sitting between the eastern bank of the Russian River and the western slopes of the Mayacamas mountains. With some of the warmest temperatures in the area, the grapes growing here easily reach full maturity, lending to wines with immense concentration and complexity. The soils are a mix of gravel deposits left by the Russian River and alluvial fans formed by centuries of erosion and runoff from the Mayacamas. 

 

38°48'18.8"N 122°59'28.7"W

 

Vintage: Once again Mother Nature has provided Sonoma County another vintage year for growers and winemakers. 2016 was by many measures an exceptional year to grow grapes. The season started early as did the previous year. The crop was slightly larger than 2015 but excellent quality. It was an early harvest season, beginning mid-August and finishing up by the end of September, another record year here at Trione Vineyards and Winery.

 

Winemaking: This wine is a classic Bordeaux-blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Malbec, 8% Merlot, and 2% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The 2016 growing season was moderate, thus promoting slow ripening and full flavor development. We hand-harvested and fermented each varietal separately, then moved the wines to barrel where they aged twelve months. Once we determined our blend, we returned the wine to barrel for an additional twelve months, to ‘marry’ the varietals. We used tight grained French oak barrels (40% new) from coopers Quintessence, Sylvain and Bossuet.

 

Oak: 100% French | Aging: 24 months