HARVESTED: September 1 – October 13, 2016
VINEYARD LOCATION: Woodside, Los Altos Hills, Saratoga, La Honda
SOILS: ranging from deep clay to sandy loam
BOTTLED: April 2018, 728 cases
COMPOSITION: 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 10% Syrah, 10% Sangiovese
ALCOHOL: 13.8%, WINEMAKER: Colin McNany
NAME: An ‘exponent’ of varietals’ potential, part of SIlicon Valley’s vines/science heritage.
VINTAGE NOTES
After quite a serious multi-year drought, the winter rains almost returned to normal, bringing temporary relief to our heat stressed vineyards. January was warm, and kicked the vines into a stage of advanced bud break. A cool summer helped push the harvest back about a week, allowing for maximum hang time. This hang time was very welcomed to encourage the phenological ripeness of the berries, developing ripe flavors and lignified tannins. We were able to harvest the vineyards successionally throughout September which resulted in some great wines to come.
WINEMAKING NOTES
Exponent is a cuvee from a variety of local vineyards, each harvested at optimum ripeness, brought in over the course of harvest, and fermented in small isolated bins. Each lot is destemmed, 100% whole berry, hand sorted, and cold soaked for 3-5 days. Punchdowns occur 3 times daily, where fruit will be pressed off skins anywhere from 10-20 days. All vineyards are then isolated to individual barrels, undergo 100% native malolactic fermentation, and aged for 18 months in a combination of American and French oak, with roughly ⅓ new American oak. Individual vineyard barrels are hand selected, racked once to tank, and gravity fed unfiltered to bottle.
TASTING NOTES
Juicy blackberries, blueberries, and crumbled honey graham cracker open up into linear fruit forward wine. Firm tannins with an herbaceous element dance with red fruits on the palette. A great match for any red pasta sauce or grilled meats.
CELLARING
Delicious now, but has the ability to age up to 3-5 years.