1994 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County
Vintage
1994
Price
$35
Release Date
January 1998
Appellation
Sonoma Mountain
Availability
Select Markets Nationally
Vineyards
Sonoma Mountain - Benziger Family
Grapes
- 76% Cabernet Sauvignon
- 10% Petit Verdot
- 9% Merlot
- 5% Cabernet Franc
Vintage
Vintage 1994 was an outstanding vintage in the North Coast and yields at our Sonoma Mountain Ranch are naturally low due to thin soils and steep terraces, with an average harvest of less than two tons per acre. Because cool weather extended the growing season, we harvested slowly, in small lots, and brought each of the 20 lots for this wine in at the height of maturity. Picking was finally completed the first week of November.
Vinification
The grapes from 20 lots were culled, crushed and cold-soaked by lot for between two and four days at 55° Fahrenheit, then fermented in 3/4 ton open-top fermentors for eight days at between 85-90° Fahrenheit, punched down by hand daily. The wines were aged in 55% American one, two and three year old barrels and 45% in new French oak barrels for 18 months and all completed malolactic fermentation by the following spring. The wines were blended and bottled in July, 1996. Alcohol: 13.7% Total Acidity: .67 pH: 3.44 residual sugar: .03 1,018 cases produced.
Tasting Notes
A big wine with intense ripe berry aromas and rich in the mouth with a texture that is enhanced by creamy fruit and chalky tannins. Cellared properly, it will develop over the next 5 - 10 years and should last 15- 20 years. Best with hearty foods such as steak, rack of lamb and grilled portobello mushrooms.