2009 CIMAROSSA CABERNET SAUVIGNON

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.