2019 Reserve Clone 169 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon

The Cabernet 169 clone is a French, Bordeaux clone that first came to the US and was planted by UC Davis in 2003. Since then, it has been gaining popularity in all the major Cabernet growing regions, and is especially prolific on Mount Veeder within Napa Valley, although our Clone 169 is primarily sourced from our Estate Rutherford benchland vineyards. In 1980, we began a 14-year series of trials in conjunction with UC Davis, to identify Cabernet Sauvignon clones best suited to our Rutherford Bench terroir. Clone 169 was ultimately selected for grafting to rootstocks planted in the well-draining, alluvial fan soils of our estate vineyard. As a component of our Georges de Latour and other reserve Cabernet Sauvignons, Clone 169 has good berry size, high vigor, and a well-balanced acid to sugar ratio. The wine can be higher in alcohol, depending on the winemaking style and it was created to produce a big, bold Cabernet with intense complexity. The color is a vibrant, deep red and the mouth feel tends to be powerful with a lingering finish. This grape is definitely for the adventurous winemaker.

At our state-of-the-art winery dedicated exclusively to the production of our Reserve wines, we utilized the latest technology to destem and optically- sort the berries to retain only the highest quality fruit. Cold soaking of the must and gentle pump overs gently extracted the flavor-rich skins into the juice. Upon completion of primary fermentation, we pressed the skins and transferred the wine into new French oak barrels for in-barrel malolactic fermentation and aging. Because of the unique and wonderful character of this clonal selection, we treat the wine as a separate lot and bottle a very limited amount.