As the sun slowly sets in the west, a cloud of dust from wheat harvest settles in the east, with combines moving quickly over the rolling hills. It’s time to prepare for a different harvest… our favorite harvest, and it is just around the corner. It’s been a relatively warm summer so far, with a few heat waves here and there. The night-time temperatures are still in the high fifties and sixties and we are patiently waiting for those “much-needed” cooler nights to arrive, helping to deliver extra balance and ripeness in our fruit before picking time. Veraison has started in the last few weeks and the small green berries will eventually transform to beautiful purple. Ryan and the crew are preparing to cover our estate vineyards with bird netting soon, protecting the precious fruits of their labor and securing only the best for the cellar.
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In the barrel room, our 2018 vintage is being prepared and evaluated for our upcoming bottling. These wines have been aged in subtle and modest French oak for 18 - 20 months, and are revealing beautiful characteristics at this time.

Final blending trials are being performed to ensure that we express character and complexity, and preserve those surprising and fascinating nuances. Most of these wines, like our 2018 Merriment and 2018 Double River Cabernet Sauvignon, will be bottled in early September and will gracefully age in bottle for 12 - 14 months prior to release.

On the other side of our “wine cave”, our expressive 2019’s are showing exceptionally well after 10 months of barrel maturation and each lot is integrating seamlessly with its designated oak profile. One of the stand-out wines from this vintage is the Double River Syrah. Our quest is to capture the verve and essence of this particular lot, while showcasing the specific terroir of our best block of Syrah from our estate. This wine is delivering bright and vivid red fruits, cured meat and a distinct chalkiness, created from 25% stem-inclusion during fermentation. I look forward to see how this wine will develop in bottle for many years to come.

In your September shipment, you will receive an expressive Malbec from McKinley Springs Vineyard and an elegant Cabernet Sauvignon from our Double River Estate Vineyard.

Both of these wines will be even more pronounced, when paired with the following dishes: Malbec - Spaghetti and Lamb Meatballs Cabernet Sauvignon - Pepper Crusted Ahi Tuna As always, we thank you for supporting our wine club, and it remains a huge honor and privilege to craft wines for you! We look forward enjoying these wines with you in the near future.
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All the best,
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Dirk

This elegant wine is crafted from two stellar blocks at our Double River Estate vineyard. The freshness of the fruit from Block 9, and the balance of the fruit from Block 4, marry beautifully in this unique rendition of Cabernet Sauvignon. The small and concentrated berries deliver a fruit-driven wine with plenty of substance, yet there is sophistication and refinement. Our goal with this wine is not to over-extract, but to capture and reveal the beautiful and attractive fruit from our estate. The most expressive and pronounced barrels from these two lots were chosen after 20 months of aging, and blended together prior to bottling.

Our Estate Cabernet leads off with dark berries, cassis and ripe cherry. Striking notes of blueberry and lavender are preserved on the aroma, with serious accents of dark plum, leather and tobacco in the background. The initial taste of ripe berries offers a sweet and lingering sensation in the mid-palate, followed by fine acidity and modest tannin. The use of carefully selected new French oak allowed us to lift and preserve the aromatics, and deliver remarkable integration between fruit and oak. The vivid fruit carries through towards the end of the palate, creating a lively, yet luscious finish. The flavor profile of this wine will be even more accentuated when paired with pepper crusted ahi tuna, prime rib or an aged cheddar. Cheers!

This expressive Malbec was crafted from McKinley Springs Vineyard in the renowned Horse Heaven Hills AVA. This high-tier block was cropped at three tons to the acre and was hand harvested at 25.5° Brix on September 27, 2018. All of the fruit was hand-sorted, destemmed, with only minimal crushing performed.

The slow and cool extraction period lasted for about 10 days and the fruit finished primary fermentation in barrel after 28 days. We aged this Malbec in 100% French oak, allowing only 2nd and 3rd fill barrels for aging. This wine was kept on the lees during the maturation process and no racking was performed. The modest approach ensures a Malbec that is vivid and fresh, retaining a beautiful acid balance but also keeping the emphasis on the fruit.
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This Malbec will reveal floral nuances of violets, rose petal and subtle hints of lavender. A striking note of graphite and stone delivers a mineral dimension to the bouquet. After a while, red berry fruit, fruitcake and baking spices will be noticeable. Warm tones of almond and cedar will create suspense and depth on the nose. With more aeration, the aroma will become increasingly expressive and intense.

The ripe fruit in the mid-palate remains fresh and plush, and is complemented well by the bright acid and ample tannin, giving this wine a desirable dryness towards the end, and creating exceptional balance and structure. Beautiful layers of brambly fruits will linger in the finish.

Our Malbec will be even more delightful, when paired with spaghetti and lamb meatballs, an aged Gorgonzola or grilled sirloin steak. Enjoy!