2009 CIMAROSSA CABERNET SAUVIGNON
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Vineyard
Cimarossa
means “red hill top” in Italian, and the red volcanic soils of this Howell
Mountain site
attest to
the appropriateness of the name. Situated at 2100 feet, the rolling,
many-sloped vineyard
features
rocky, non-fertile soils, suitable only for grapevines and the few olive trees
that grow along
its
outskirts. Farmed by longtime grower Dino Dina, the vineyard produces classic
mountain
Cabernet Sauvignon. This harvest marks the 6th vintage of this
wine for Sbragia Family Vineyards.
Vintage
The 2009 vintage
gave Napa Valley winemakers lush, beautiful grapes for great wine. Late spring
rains delayed irrigation and a warm spell in June helped curtail excessive
canopy development. The growing season counted only four or five days of
intense heat instead of the nearly 14 days we get in a typical growing season, helping
to reduce demand for water when the resource was relatively scarce. Though
rainfall was little more than two-thirds the norm for the third year in a row,
the timing of the precipitation was on the vine's side. With little to no frost
and a mild, relatively cool growing season, the forces of nature worked in
unison in 2009 to give vines and grapes the best scenario possible.
Winemaking
As one of the
highest elevation vineyards in Napa Valley Cimarossa is also one of the
latest-ripening, testing our patience each vintage as we wait for the right
moment to harvest. 2009 was no different, but the long growing season rewarded
us with small, beautifully ripe and intensely concentrated Cabernet grapes. We
crushed and fermented the fruit and placed the young wine in new thin-staved
Chateau barrels from the Nevers forest in France where it aged for two years
prior to bottling.
$140.00
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Winemaker Comments
“I’m a big
fan of Howell Mountain fruit; party because I find the appellation’s diverse
terrain yields such individualistic wines, worthy of vineyard-designation. The
2009 Cimarossa is both structured, with a mineral backbone, and generous,
brimming with dark fruits and exotic spices that stay pure and racy on the
palate. Solid and stylish, the wine’s ripe, silky tannins are wrapped in sweet
French oak, giving the wine a long, lovely finish.”
-Ed
Sbragia -Adam
Sbragia
Technical Information
Harvest Date: 10/9/2009
Blend: 95.1% Cabernet Sauvignon,
4.9% Cabernet Franc
Alcohol: 15.8%
TA: 5.84 gm/L
pH: 3.95
Cases Produced: 465