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Winery notes: The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon has great texture and structure with a medium mouthfeel. There are aromas of dark plum, cherry, cassis, warm barrel spice, vanilla and dark chocolate. In the glass there are concentrated flavors of cherry, cassis, blackberry, plum, spice, tobacco and chocolate. In the late 1960s we bottled a few cases of Cabernet Sauvignon for friends and family. Those first few cases of homemade wine inspired the vision for our estate winery, Alexander Valley Vineyards. From the very beginning Cabernet Sauvignon was our flagship wine.
2012 was a textbook growing season with ideal weather. In the spring, our vines set a large crop and over the next few months we thinned clusters in many blocks more than once. During the summer, we had an abundance of California coastal "sweater" weather, fog in the morning, and warm sunshine in the afternoon, often sending temperatures into the mid 90s and then quickly cooling off after sunset. These daily temperature swings help make the southern Alexander Valley the perfect place to grow Bordeaux varietals. The daily “diurnal” temperature shift, occasionally hitting 50 degrees, continued into September ripening the fruit evenly and slowly. Harvest proceeded at a steady, measured pace and the Cabernet Sauvignon clusters were packed with tiny bluish-black flavorful berries with great balance and concentration.
After fermentation the wine was barrel aged for 14 months in a combination of 25% new French and American oak.
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