Dark purple, gorgeous color. Aromas of red dark fruits, blackberry cobbler, smoked meat, black licorice and a hint of cinnamon spice, dried sage and eucalyptus. Beautiful lush entry that leads into a mid-palate with flavors of dark blackberry fruit, cinnamon/clove, mocha, licorice and a hint of freshly baked vanilla shortbread. The finish is long and nicely structured, it lingers long enough to really savor the spicy, black fruit, beautifully balanced character of this wine.
Grapes are from Hedges Estate Vineyard, North Block, which is in the Red Mountain AVA and is biodynamically farmed. This wine was cold soaked overnight then inoculated with yeast, fermented for 7 days on skins while being pumped over twice daily before pressing to barrels, where it was inoculated with malo-lactic bacteria. It was 100% barrel aged for 9 months in 100% new oak consisting of 86% American and 14% French.
Harvest Notes: 2013 was another excellent vintage in Washington State, made slightly unusual by 80 plus temperatures in April and 90 plus temperatures in May. This uncommon early season heat caused bud break and growth to be early and rapid, exceeding average by about ten days. An average summer meant veraison and harvest began early, which led to ripe fruit throughout the state. Once again, “average” in Washington is everyone else’s “great”.
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