Our 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Port is from the Red Hills AVA of Lake County. The Red Hills lie at the foot of Mount Konocti, an extinct volcano. The vineyard is at 2000 feet elevation and has red, volcanic soil. Each clone is hand-harvested separately at night to preserve the fruit’s fresh, pure character, and fermented and barrel-aged separately. After assessing the distinctive personality of each lot, we blend the seven Cabernet clones together creating a complex, full bodied wine.

Clear, hot summer weather, with warm days and cool nights, provided ideal conditions for fully maturing our Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, which were harvested in early October with a perfect balance of sugar and acidity.

After the grapes were crushed, the juice from each lot was cold-soaked for 48 hours prior to initiating fermentation with a French yeast strain that enhances texture, depth and intensity. The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon spent 26 months in French oak barrels, 60% new, prior to bottling in December, 2014.