2018 Cliff Lede Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap District, 3L
available
The seamless and integrated 2018 Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon is a deep purple colored love letter to our favored appellation. Its beautiful, scorched earth, blackberry, warm blueberries, cool slate, and dark chocolate aromas envelop the glass and are complexed with ancho chile, cumin, braised meat juices, and new leather notes.
Wine Specs
Vintage
2018
Varietal
Cabernet Sauvignon
Appellation
Stags Leap District
Alcohol %
14.9
Wine Profile
Vineyard Notes
The fruit was sourced from the hillside terraces of our Poetry Vineyard, our Twin Peaks Vineyard estate surrounding the winery, and a few neighboring vineyards in the Stags Leap District. The wine is composed of small lots from our best blocks, representing a diverse range of carefully selected clones and rootstocks. From Poetry’s exposed, rocky terraces boasting volcanic origins, to the ancient riverbed alluvial soils of Twin Peaks, the breadth of contributing sites translates into a wine of impressive complexity.
Winemaker Notes
Grapes were picked in the darkness of the early morning hours. The freshly-harvested fruit immediately underwent rigorous selection by our three-tiered sorting process, which included our cutting-edge optical sorter. Whole berries were gently delivered by gravity to tank using our crane system, minimizing disruption of berry integrity. Cold soaks lasted approximately seven days, and fermentations were managed via a combination of délestage, pumpovers, and punchdowns. Extended maceration ranging from four to five weeks fine-tuned our tannin profiles, allowing us to perfect mouth feel and wine complexity. The wine was aged in French oak barrels, 32% of which were new, for twenty-one months.