Cakebread Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

About

The Cakebreads show their commitment to quality through their years of family teamwork, their stewardship of the land, their care in growing and vinifying individual lots of grapes for each wine and their public programs for healthy living. The result is a world-class winery that crafts distinctive wines and welcomes dedicated visitors year after year.

The grapes are hand harvested, destemmed and immediately crushed, and each vineyard lot is fermented separately with selected yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks over a period of six to seven days. Each lot of grapes is frequently tasted during fermentation to determine when the extraction is at optimum. At that point, the wine is pressed off the skins in membrane wine presses, keeping the press wine separate from the free-run wine. In this way, Cakebread Cellars’ red wines, especially the Cabernets, have their natural fruitiness preserved, while the extraction of harsh, drying tannins is avoided. It is then pressed and returned to stainless steel for complete malolactic fermentation. Following this, the wine is racked into French oak barrels, of which roughly half are new and half of one and two years’ use for approximately six months.

Cakebread Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 is composed of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, aged for 17 months in 56% new French oak. Very deep purple-black colored, it has a pronounced nose of creme de cassis, blackberry tart and warm mulberries with touches of Chinese five spice, camphor and tar. Medium to full-bodied, the palate features loads of black fruit preserves, framed by chewy tannins and great freshness, finishing with a compelling herbal lift.