2015 Millennium MM Vyd Cabernet Sauvignon

RUTHERFORD, NAPA VALLEY
$140 per bottle   /   $119 club price
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94 points, Wine Spectator

93+ points, Wine Advocate

91 points, James Suckling

90 points, Wine Enthusiast

This 2015 Millennium MM Vineyard is an elegant example of Cabernet Sauvignon. It begins on the nose with big black cherries, cedar, raspberries, mixed berry compote, and layers of earthiness.  Its balance and mid-palate are most notable, providing deep and unctuous tannins alongside its intense fruit character. On the palate, it delivers rich and sweet blackberries, firm tannins, baked blueberry cobbler, toasted croissant, mixed berry jam, and a dusty earth tone. The beautiful underlying tannin structure, complexity, and ample fruit will evolve over time and age gracefully for 10-15 years.

WINEMAKER NOTES

Upon hand harvesting in the early morning hours, our Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot were carefully destemmed and sent to tank for a whole berry fermentation. The grapes were cold-soaked in tank at 45˚F for 4-7 days, allowing for increased color, aroma, and flavor extraction. After inoculation with a select yeast, the grape must (juice, skins, and seeds) fermented at 82˚F, which allowed for a hot extraction on the skins. For fermentation cap management, we pumped juice over the skins two times per day, wetting the cap evenly for a nice healthy fermentation. After fermentation and pressing, the wine was sent to 75% new French oak, 25% neutral French oak barrels, aging for 26 months. The final blend for the Millenium MM Vineyard is 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot and was bottled unfined and unfiltered.

 

THE VINTAGE

The 2015 vintage started with very little rainfall prior to bud break, enabling the vintage to be considered a drought year.  Drought years often lead to less vegetative growth and more focused fruit development, which is always a great thing for winemakers.  The Spring eventually brought about flowering, which was cooler than expected and in turn affected the fruit set and potential yields.  Even though yields in the vineyards were down, this provided the winemaking team with increased concentration of tannins and flavors from the grapes.  Summer was relatively warm and allowed the fruit to ripen at a steady pace and by September and October, the grapes were harvested at optimal ripeness. This 2015 wine was made from hand-selected grapes in two small vineyard blocks of our Millennium MM vineyard and our Fawn Park Petit Verdot vineyard.  The Cabernet Sauvignon is clone 30 and 169.

 

WINE FACTS

Winemaker: Jason Moulton 

Appellation: Rutherford, Millennium MM Vineyard 

Blend: 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot

Alcohol: 14.9%