2007 Eaglepoint Ranch Mendocino County

This is the second year I ventured up to the high mountain vineyard to source this delicious Sangiovese. I figured after what happened last year, I wasn’t getting the Napa fruit any longer and it was a good thing. This site is spectacular even though the vines look a bit out of control. Sometimes I prefer this over the neatly manicured, perfectly trellised rows- gives the wine more character.

The growing season was near perfect for this Italian varietal. It started off beautifully with buds bursting open in the spring air, followed by a longer, cooler growing season. This allowed the grapes more hang time to ripen evenly and produced smaller berries which increases the skin to juice ratio. We picked about 7 tons off this block on the 15th of October after a warm dry weekend just before the first fall rains. The grapes were then destemmed and dumped into 4 different open topped vessels where they got the usual cold soaking at 50 degrees for about 5 days. The fermentation started naturally which is always a relief- why inoculate if you don’t need to?

My favorite part, the punching down or stomping on the cap, lasted about 2 weeks anywhere from 2-3 times per day. The fermentation went smoothly, meaning the wine went dry without any issues. The free run was then drained into 50% new French oak barrels and the cap was gently pressed and put into neutral oak. Malolactic began shortly after barreling down and finished up before the holidays. The wine was left to age for 16 months this year to help soften and integrate the big juicy tannins.

The nose has hints of dried violets, chocolate covered cherries, and black licorice. These notes follow through on the palate paired with ripe stone fruits, black tea, and big soft tannins. It will be fun to see how this wine ages, but equally as pleasing to drink it now.

400 cases (750 ml bottles) produced
30 magnum bottles (1500 ml bottles) produced