2014 TR Passalacqua Cabernet Sauvignon, Block 23

Tasting Notes

The aromatics completely show the barrel fermentation. It smells like mashed blackberries, cherries, and plums that have been soaking in a cedar bowl. You can get a sense of the oak, but it’s so integrated with the fruit, it’s hard to tease them apart. The palate shows some of that fruit, but turns more to dusty tannin and there is a dried leafy character in the background mixed with a touch of brown spices. The finish is mostly cedar and tannin that will continue to soften over the years.

Winemaker's Notes

Block 23 is the newest planting of Cabernet Sauvignon on the TRP Vineyard. Planted in 2009, it has topography like no other block on the ranch. There is hardly any slope to this bench that sits above all the other blocks, on the crest of a hill, overlooking the entire ranch. The brick colored soil is fertile and fed by an underground spring. Not only is this site unique to the ranch, but the winemaking is as well. We pick these grapes a little later than the other blocks, which means a higher sugar concentration, and a darker fruit profile. We also barrel ferment the juice, which is a labor and space intensive endeavor, but pays off with lush integrated tannins, and bursting fruit.

Production Notes

53 cases

Cooperage Notes

Twenty months in thin-staved French oak, 100% new.

Drinkable

Fifteen to twenty years from vintage