Vineyard Notes
Our Trés Violet is crafted entirely of fruit grown at our Calcareous Estate vineyard. The name Calcareous comes from the geological term for limestone containing soils, whose presence here cannot be overstated. With high soil pH and planted on slopes grading near 45%, this site naturally supplies yields of less than 2 tons to the acre. These factors combine to produce fruit of uncommon density, aromatics, and structural elements. 2019 will most definitely be remembered in the history of Paso Robles as one of the truly great vintages. Not across the board for every wine by every winemaker as it was a challenging year, full of surprises of unexpected turns. But for the winemaker that paid attention and rose to the occasion, this vintage supplied the ingredients for making the best wine you possibly can.
Winemaker Notes
Each lot was destemmed and fermented whole berry in open top 3-ton concrete fermenters. A mix of punch downs, and délestage, which allows for the gentle extraction of free run juice, were used to pull color and tannin from the skins without over doing it and pulling harsher compounds into the wine. The various lots spent an average of 19 days on skins before being gently pressed. The 3 varietals were blended together after completion of malo-lactic fermentation and aged in a combination of French Oak tanks and puncheons to emphasize structure elements of the cooperage as opposed to flavor and aroma. The wine was never racked again, allowing sur lie aging to add richness and body to the mid-palate. After 18 months in the wines were racked to a single blend in tank for bottling without any further filtering or fining.
