Vineyard Notes
The Carver Vineyard was planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and a small section of Cab Franc in the 1980's. Calcareous took over management of it in 1999 and treat it as part of our Estate. The age and location in York Mountain allows us to dry farm the vineyard. The 2017 vintage was "classic" Paso Robles, with decent but not heavy rainfall, a mild spring for great flowering and fruit set, followed by a long warm ripening season for perfect fruit development.
Winemaker Notes
The fruit was handpicked and cluster sorted before destemming. The fruit was gravity fed, uncrushed, into 4-ton open top concrete fermenters. Twice daily pump overs were performed for the first 8 days of fermentation, followed by a move to a punch-down protocol. After 18 days, the juice was pressed off the skins and settled in tank for 2 days. From here, the wine was allowed to finish malo-lactic fermentation in barrel. It was only racked once, allowing the sur lie aging to develop richness and body over a long 22 months in barrel. Bottled unfined with only coarse filtration to remove lees at the last possible moment. This wine was made with the idea of maximizing the tannin and structure to create an age worthy cabernet.
