Bud Break
Last week of March and the first week of April

Bloom
May 31st to June 3rd

Veraison
65 – 95% Completed as of August 15th

Yields for 2002 – Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Acres Tons Tons/Acre
79.64 147.937 1.86

Vintage Weather
Although our annual rainfall was close to average, the rain fell mainly between November and January, with relatively little precipitation in early spring. The dry soils produced grapes with minimal water content, yielding a light crop of small, highly concentrated berries. February and March were warm as well as dry, leading to an early bud break. The growing season was prolonged by cool weather in June and July, although hot days in August and two weeks of high temperatures in the last half of September allowed us to finish harvest at the Estate on a fairly normal timeline around the middle of October. The long growing season and extended hang time for the fruit ensured full, complex flavor development. Total rainfall for the year from November `01 to October `02 was 38.0”.

Harvest
We started picking Cabernet Sauvignon on September 14th during a period of ideal weather, with warm days and cool nights. Two weeks of prolonged heat set in a few days later, which caused sugar levels to rise in some areas before flavors had fully developed. To ensure that we picked only the fruit that was ready, we carefully picked fruit row by row, leaving the rest behind for later passes by our crew. By September 27th the warm days and cool nights returned, allowing us a more typical harvesting pattern. The final blocks of our Estate were picked on October 15th.

The Wine
The wine’s diverse and complex flavor profile with ripe cassis, blackberry, and black cherry flavors supported by hints of tar and earth prove that the painstaking and slow process of partial row harvesting was well worth the effort. The tiny Cabernet berries yielded from the vineyard’s dry soils produced an inky wine with powerful yet silky tannins. The overall cool nature of the vintage is evidenced by the refreshing backbone of acidity, which, coupled with the wine’s bold structure and rich flavors, make it satisfying today with hearty fare and ensure many years of evolution to come.

Accolades
Wine Advocate: Outstanding to Extraordinary. “Extremely full-bodied and rich, with high tannin, it is a chewy, perhaps less delineated, and jammier effort reflecting the style of the 2002 North Coast Cabernets. It should be more approachable in its youth. While the tannin is more noticeable, the fruit is riper, and the wine is more of a heavyweight.” (92 – 95+ points)

Wine Spectator: Outstanding. (92-94 points)