Winemaker Notes:
Alcohol 14.5%
100% Estate grown fruit produced and bottled at Larkmead Vineyards
95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc
Aged for 18 months in 56% new French oak barrels from Tonnelleries Ermitage, Demptos & Sylvain
3,986 cases produced
"Deep ruby red-purple color. Unmistakable Larkmead aromatic profile of dusky cola, wild herbs, minerals and ripe dark fruit, with a complex, perfumed violet side note. The palate is immediately dark, rich and multi-layered with Larkmead menthol-mineral flavors, graphite, cedar and dusty cocoa powder notes. Concentrated dark fruit dominates as the palate expands but the wine remains lively, juicy and focused throughout. The tannins are long, youthful and satisfying and bring richness and length to the palate, which finishes with a whiff of pepper and aromatic thyme.
At this early pre-release stage, this wine contains all the elements to be our finest Estate Cabernet bottling to date. It is a quintessential upper Valley Cabernet in all respects, but has that added sprinkling of Larkmead magic that ensures it will stand head and shoulders above the crowd. And it is this vivid Larkmead signature that makes the wine so prolific - you can almost taste the rocky soil in the glass. Full of rich, dark cassis fruit and complex inner mouth aromatic notes, the wine currently shows an element of youthful reserve that ensures it will age gracefully for at least twelve years under optimum storage conditions (55F). Long time customers may recognize similarities to our 2002 Estate Cabernet, yet this new bottling has an added dimension of concentration without weight that characterizes the finest vintages.
Decant for an hour in its first couple of years and drink between release and 2020."

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