Dark purple color, intense black fruit and dark cherry, black pepper, with hints of savory shortbread, rosemary and a touch of lemon zest. There is also a bit of red licorice, cinnamon and earth. The entry is soft and lead into a full and rich mid-palate. Black fruit flavors, spice and some vanilla sweetness. The balanced long finish is silky and soft.
Cellaring: As with all Red Mountain red wines, it should age well, probably peaking in 15 years, but still a great wine even at 20-30 years old.
Grapes are from Hedges Estate Vineyard, high density block, which is in the Red Mountain AVA and is biodynamically farmed. This wine was cold soaked overnight then inoculated with yeast, fermented for 8 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 18 months in 100% new American oak.
Harvest notes: 2014 was warm early and stayed warm until harvest, the hottest since 1998. Ripe and the Brix that go with it were no problem this vintage, and it was very fast, short growing season. Heat began early and remained constant which helped plants and fruit clusters acclimate to the extreme heat. With nights still cooling berry shrivel and raisining was nonexistent. With little to no rainfall throughout the year mildew problems were of no concern. One problem for wine makers was the early ripening of all varieties which made it challenging for harvesting grapes at their optimum. However, our long-term relationships with our growers and vigilant testing (and the earlier than usual picking that went with it), helped us to pick grapes at their optimum. Riper, richer flavors predominate. Plenty of lushness in 2014.
100% Hedges Estate Vineyard
Sarah Hedges Goedhart
Experience Hedges wine all year round
