Dark, deep, rich and earthy. Really pretty combination of Blackberry, cassis and black cherry. Cloves, cinnamon, cocoa and vanilla. Dark chocolate and leather surprise you towards the end. Dark black fruit flavors, full and lush with an intense yet refined astringency on the finish. Our first limited Cabernet from Jolet vineyard, this is definitely a pleasure to drink.
Grapes are from Jolet Estate Vineyard, North Block, which is in the Red Mountain AVA. This wine was cold soaked overnight then inoculated with yeast, fermented for 9 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 60% new oak consisting of 67% American and 33% French.
Harvest Notes: Heat, heat and more heat! That was 2015. A warm, dry Spring led to a hot, dry summer. Heat remained for the first part of harvest and grapes came in early. The hottest year on record. Ripe flavors and the Brix that go with it were no problem this vintage and it was a very fast, short growing season. One problem for wine makers was the early ripening of all varieties which made it challenging for harvesting grapes at their optimum, however the wines have been delicious. The 2015 harvest resulted in the earliest picking date ever of red grapes for Hedges on Red Mountain.
Pete Hedges
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