2022 Madame de Latour Red Blend

For this eponymous wine, we sourced Cabernet Sauvignon from the highly acclaimed Meteor Vineyard in the Coombsville AVA (located in Napa Valley’s southeastern corner). The cool-climate growing region has gravelly loam and well-draining, rocky volcanic soils. Vines planted here produce grapes with complex floral and earthy qualities, focused acidity, and commanding tannins. For juxtaposition, BV Ranch No. 12 Malbec was added to this blend to provide plushness and complexity. BV Ranch No. 12 is in Calistoga at Napa Valley’s northern end, where the dramatic diurnal climate, from hot days to very cool evenings, encourages long, even ripening over the course of the growing season. This valley-floor vineyard site yields small grapes with a high skin-to-juice ratio, desirable for intense color and flavor extraction.

After hand-harvesting, the grapes were immediately delivered to the winery where they were destemmed and cold soaked for gentle flavor extraction. During fermentation, we pumped over the cap to incorporate the flavor-rich skins into the juice. To balance the bold fruit expression with toasty oak character, we chose French oak (95% new) for barrel aging.