This wine is only available by allocation.
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2018 Impassable Mountain
Cassis, fresh leather, and cedar aromas lift out of the glass. The mid-palate is full-bodied with rich tannins and a layered finish unfolding with blackberry, sage, and a hint of minerality. After an extended elévage and two years aging in bottle, we are delighted to share this final blend of hand-selected barrels from the highest elevations and steepest slopes of our vineyard. We recommend cellaring for an additional 2-5 years, and the wine will continue to evolve for the next few decades.
VARIETY: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
VINEYARD: 100% Hidden Ridge Vineyard
PRODUCTION: 239 cases 300 Magnums
VINEYARD
The Hidden Ridge Vineyard lies within an enclosed valley on steep mountainside slopes with primarily eastern and southern exposures at elevations ranging from 1100 to 1700 feet. The soils are a complex mixture of uplifted alluvium and decomposed volcanic material typical of the Mayacamas Range and vary throughout the vineyard. The vineyard is on steep terraced slopes. The lean soils and steep slopes naturally limit vine vigor and give remarkably small-berried fruit. Although the vineyard is usually above the fog and sees warm days, the site is protected from inland heat and receives ocean cooling from early morning and late afternoon breezes that maintain our moderate growing temperatures somewhat cooler than Spring Mountain directly to the east. The extended growing day at moderate temperatures gives the fruit well-developed tannins and rich texture yet preserves the complex fruit characters and natural acidity lost in warmer locations.
VINTAGE
A calm and consistent growing season in 2018 brought small yields with abundant quality to our estate vineyard. A cool winter with ample rainfall, followed by a mild spring with filtered sunlight and ideal temperatures, provided exceptional flowering conditions for an ideal fruit set. Summer ushered in a steady pattern of blue-sky days and consistent cool and foggy nights. The mild summer continued into the fall, allowing a luxurious amount of time on the vine for fruit to develop in flavor and complexity.
WINEMAKING:
Vineyard blocks were selected for harvest by taste, selecting subsections of rows for any harvest day. The vineyard was harvested seven times over two weeks, responding to the varying development of different aspects, elevations, and rootstocks. Hand-harvested and meticulously sorted, the fruit was allowed to cold soak prior to fermentation and further post-fermentation maceration on the skins for a total of 31 to 42 days depending on the lot. The wines were pressed to 85% new French oak, where they underwent malolactic fermentation. Individual barrels were selected from two lots for inclusion in the Impassible Mountain blend, and represent a selection of our highest elevations, steepest slopes, and southern-facing vines. These wines were racked three times during elévage and bottled
unfined and unfiltered in June 2021.
