2002 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County
Winemaker Notes
The lots were cold-soaked, some for one day and others for as many as five. The wine was fermented in small lots in open top fermentors and punched down by hand. Extended maceration, 16 to 21 days on the skins, provided maximum extraction. All of the lots underwent malolactic fermentation and were aged for 18 months in French oak barrels, new, one-year and older. We extended the fermentation times and reduced the time from pressing to barrel to complete the malolactic fermentation in barrel. This is done to improve the texture and mouthfeel as well as to integrate the flavors. The wine was bottled in August 2004. Alcohol: 14.5%, Total acidity: .527, pH: 3.85, Residual sugar: .04
Tasting Notes
Tasting Notes |An iron fist in a velvet glove... rich, full bodied, and round, with layers of cedar, blackberry and chocolate flavors. On the finish, it is long and toasty, with a tannic grip suggesting it will improve with another five to ten years of further aging. Enjoy this wine with broiled steak, beef empanadas, or lamb.
Benziger Farming Practices
Benziger Family Winery is leading a new definition of wine quality through its Farming for FlavorsTM, organic and Biodynamic® winegrowing practices. Their 85-acre, certified Biodynamic Sonoma Mountain estate has become a research and teaching center for the cultivation of grapes with more flavor, intensity and site-specific vineyard character. The family shares its farming knowledge and experience with their longtime grower partners throughout Sonoma County.
Grapes for all Benziger wines are grown by one of three farming methods: Farming for Flavors, organic or Biodynamic. By reducing chemicals that mask the unique personality of vineyard sites, restoring the land and encouraging biodiversity on the farm, Benziger growers distinguish their fruit from all others. This distinction is of great importance to the grapegrower who makes a truly unique product, but also to the consumer who can trust that the passion of family farming and the delicious diversity of Sonoma County can be tasted in every bottle of high quality, handcrafted Benziger wine.
Benziger History
More than 25 years ago, Mike and Mary Benziger discovered the overgrown ranch that would become Benziger Family Winery. They purchased the land with the help of Mike's father, Bruno Benziger, a wine and spirits importer from New York. A year later, Mike's parents and his six siblings moved to Glen Ellen to help build the winery. Today, more than two-dozen Benzigers live on and around the estate winery in Sonoma County.
Terry Nolan, Winemaker