2015 Ark Cabernet Sauvignon 3L EtchedArk
100 Points, Wine Advocate: "Medium garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon ARK Vineyard is a total rockstar even at this incredibly youthful stage, strutting the stage with flamboyant freshly crushed red and black currants, black cherries, black raspberries and cassis scents with spectacular lilacs and fragrant earth accents plus sparks of cast iron pan, garrigue and grilled meats. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is charged with amazing energy, packing wonderfully vibrant black fruits, red berries and mineral flavors into a firm, finely grained frame, finishing very long and beautifully lifted.", Lisa Perrotti-Brown, 12/1/18
WINEMAKER NOTES:
All Hundred Acre wines are made by sorting the fruit berry by berry, fermenting in small, French oak fermenters, and long again in the finest barriques. The secret to Hundred Acre is no compromise and no detail overlooked, ever.
The 2015 vintage will forever be defined as the height of the drought in Napa Valley. The vines were under tremendous stress with a warm, long growing season and very limited access to water. These drought conditions led to small berries, tight clusters and tremendous concentration. Unfortunately, these conditions also led to significantly lower yields than the 2014 vintage.
VINEYARD NOTES:
The single estate vineyard ARK is located just outside St. Helena, California at the base of Howell Mountain. It was originally planted in the 1880s, but was sadly lost to Prohibition. It took us five years to rebuild; she is our pride and joy.
The ARK is comprised of nine different blocks of Cabernet Sauvignon, planted meter by meter in nine different volcanic soil strata. The vineyard stretches through a sixty-million-year time sequence: three ancient beach fronts, a prehistoric weapons quarry, and spans a 180-degree arc of the sun over its half-mile length.
Hot afternoon sun known to damage aromatics in the fruit (on the hottest days), is blocked by the shade of Glass Mountain (named for the rare obsidian rock found in the soil and for ancient weapons such as arrowheads) which rises to the western side of the ARK vineyard.
As with all of our vineyards, we pick only when the fruit is perfectly ripe; this doesn’t always happen at once. It is common for us to make multiple passes through the vineyard, picking different clusters from the same vines as they reach perfect maturity. This attention to detail is critical to making a wine the caliber of Hundred Acre.
COOPERAGE:
Hundred Acre wines are aged for a minimum of 30 months in the finest center cut of French oak barrique. The stave wood is hand-selected for ultra-tight grain, then air dried for three years before being made into barrels.
- CountryUSA
- RegionNapa Valley
- AppellationNapa Valley