2017 SINGLE VINEYARD LIMITED MALBEC
Tasting Notes:
Aroma / Flavor: Blackberry pie / jasmine / wet gravel / bourbon / vanilla / hazelnut / chili powder / green peppercorn
Texture: full / spicy / velvety / tart / dusty / round
2017 Limited Biodynamic Malbec
Winemaker: Sarah Goedhart
Vintage: 2017
AVA: Red Mountain
Blend: 100% Malbec
Vineyard: 100% Hedges Estate Vineyard, high density - head trained block
Bottled: 7/22/19
Released: 7/1/23
Production: 43 cases (12 x 750ml)
Titratable Acidity: 6.3 g/L
pH: 4.09
Alcohol: 14.4% vol
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.
Production: Grapes are from Hedges Estate Vineyard. This wine was cold soaked overnight then allowed to spontaneous ferment with indigenous yeast for 6 days on skins while being pumped over twice daily before pressing to barrels, where it completed indigenous malolactic fermentation. It was 100% barrel aged for 22 months in 100% New American oak.
Harvest: 2017 started off cold! January stayed in the upper teens for most of the month and dipped into the negatives for a day or two. Along with the cold we had a lot of snow! People were calling it the 60 year freeze, we hadn’t seen a winter like that since 1955. Spring was damp and the hills had never been so green. Things started to heat up around July and August and by August we were surrounded by fires originating in Canada and all up and down the West Coast. There was a blanket of smoke in the sky, which really dampened the suns UV rays. We think this actually helped the vines slow down ripening due to less photosynthesis taking place. Luckily the fires were far enough away that smoke taint was not an issue at all. We had a mild September and October which really stretched out the maturation period allowing flavors to develop nicely without Brix getting too high. 2017 was a really interesting year and an exciting one! The resulting wines have been full of color and flavor, especially here on Red Mountain
Spicy, raspberry, cherry, blackberry, almond paste, rosemary, and a touch of blooming meadow. Spicy earthy flavors, floral, vanilla, light body, long and lingering with nice balance.
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. This wine was cold soaked overnight then allowed to spontaneous ferment with indigenous yeast for 6 days on skins while being pumped over twice daily before pressing to barrels, where it completed indigenous malolactic fermentation. It was 100% barrel aged for 22 months in 100% New American oak.
Harvest: 2016 had a very mild and warm winter followed by a wet Spring with a few heat spikes early on in May. Summer had an average amount of heat, but nothing like what we saw in 2015. A few rain events throughout the growing season made regulating irrigation water a bit tricky. The first part of harvest had mild heat which made for steady and even ripening of the fruit. The end of harvest was hit with off and on rain for a few weeks, which really slowed things down and stretched out picking dates. The 2016 harvest resulted in large crops with impressive fruit quality
