Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon
The grapes for our Emblem Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon were harvested from a single Rutherford vineyard east of the Napa River extending to Conn Creek, in the alluvial fan of the Vaca Range, a place where our family has 45 years of winegrowing experience. The valley floor’s warm climate and deep, well-drained soils produce vigorous vines that receive more sun exposure than in other parts of the Napa Valley. To moderate and distribute the sun’s heat, the vines are planted in east-west facing rows, and a single-sided ballerina trellising system shades the fruit from intense morning sun. Rutherford historically produces classic Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon fruit of excellent quality.
After the grapes were hand-harvested, de-stemmed and crushed, the fermenting juice went through a combination of gentle punch-down and cap submersion and aerativepump-overswith rack and returns in order to keep tannins supple and approachable while limiting the extraction of dusty tannins typical of Rutherford and maintaining the richness of the fruit. An extended maceration resulted in an average of 21 to 28 days before pressing. The wine was transferred into French oak barrels (66% new) for malolacticfermentation and 22 months of aging, followed by 6 months aging in bottle.