State Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon

State Ranch is located northeast of the town of Yountville. The 23-acre vineyard is divided into two parcels by State Lane Road and consists of both older and younger vines. Many excellent wines are produced from this area, in part due to the rocky, loam soil which has excellent drainage throughout the year. The vines, as well as the clusters, are moderate in size and the vineyard gets full sun throughout the day. As the young vines mature, we will be harvesting many different clones to make the final wine. Nickel & Nickel selects fruit from 14.5 acres of the vineyard.

Foggy nights offered the perfect conditions for fruit and tannin maturity. There were no heat spikes this year, so flavor development was at its peak. This vineyard is not overly vigorous, so adequate exposure was achieved with very little leaf pulling around the clusters. Bloom and veraison occurred two weeks ahead of last year and the vines looked ideal. This vineyard takes a little longer to ripen the fruit, so we didn’t harvest this year until mid-October when the bright berry flavors started to shine.