Technical Information

Composition: 100% Cabernet Franc

Vineyard: Antonina's

Appellation: Fountaingrove District

Aging: 18 months

Barrels: 50% New French Oak

            50% New American Oak

Alcohol: 14.6%

pH / TA: 3.80 / 5.7 g/L

Production: 68 Cases

Vintage

Antonina’s Vineyard certainly provided an interesting challenge in 2015. I began sampling the grapes in early September and it soon became evident that they were not ripening as desired. Due to unusually high temperatures in late August and early September, the grapes had already achieved relatively high sugar levels but tasted very under-ripe and were nowhere near ready to pick. Thankfully, the weather made a dramatic change, which benefited the grapes immensely. On September 16, we had a rare rainy day and the vineyard received nearly an inch of rain, which lowered the sugar levels in the grapes. Fortunately, the next day it was quite windy and sunny so we had no issues with mold in the grape clusters. In the weeks following the rain the weather shifted to a more normal pattern with temperatures reaching only into the mid 70’s during the day and almost into the 40’s at night. This significantly slowed sugar accumulation while retaining acidity in the grapes, which allowed them to fully ripen and develop the complex flavors that make Cabernet Franc such a special wine.

After a one-day trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary in Texas with Laura, I joined the vineyard owners, George and Mary Lou, along with two of their friends to harvest the Cabernet Franc on October 6th.

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Winemaking

The Cabernet Franc fermentation was very straightforward, required no intervention and had no adverse events. The grapes were destemmed without crushing into an open-top fermenter and then cold-soaked at 55 °F for two days until the juice reached it’s desired flavor complexity. Yeast was then added to grapes and the fermentation was finished in 11 days. I tasted and monitored the wine daily. When the desired flavor profile was reached the must was pressed to separate the skins and seeds and the wine was transferred into barrels and aged for 18 months in French and American barrels.

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Awards

• Best of Class Winner - 2018 Indy International Wine Competition

• Double Gold Medal - 2018 Indy International Wine Competition

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