When Trish and I bought our slice of heaven in 1997, we thought long and hard about what our vineyard might look like in say ten years or so.  We knew that Lodi was the Zinfandel Capitol of the World, but we were not certain that Zin was to be our destiny.  After much research we decided to plant Cabernet.  We took our chance and cast our fate against conventional wisdom.  Mother Nature blessed us with significant differences in our micro-climate and soil components.  Our early risk has paid enormous dividends.

What about the soil…we have “redding” soil which is this incredible mixture of decomposed granite, clay and sand.  Our soil is teeming with minerals, which our roots must pass through many feet of to reach moisture.  This minerality adds a truly unique quality to our Cabernet…for instance…

Our color is deep ruby red with soft purple edges.  We get amazing color extract at only 24 brix of sugar (brix is the method of measuring sugar level in ripening grapes…roughly brix are double the alcohol by volume after wine is fermented dry).  Some vines in other vineyards need as much as a month more hang time and over 25 brix to achieve our color quality.  The aromas are rich with black cherry, plum, cassis, cigar box and cocoa.  We prefer to perform a secondary malo-lactic fermentation on all of our red Cabernet.  This converts certain acids in the wine and changes the flavor profile to a slight creaminess in the mouth. 

After this process we transfer our wine into used 60 gallon American oak barrels.  We prefer one year old barrels because they allow the wine to mellow without overpowering the wine with strong wood flavors.  We like the fruit to be the featured flavor in our red wines.  The flavor profile in our Cabernet is bold cherry and plum fruit with hints of dark chocolate and soft vanilla, balanced with an intriguing note of earthiness.  This earthiness is akin to that great childhood memory of going to a small stream and finding a smooth rock and licking it.  Remember that flinty, stony flavor….

The finish is long and elegant, showing firm tannic structure from the oak aging.  We serve our Cabernet for just about any occasion.  We like it with grilled red meats, pasta with hearty sauces and even Mexican food…or for dessert, with chocolates or strong blue cheeses.