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2011 Cabernet Sauvignon
Description
Winemaking Notes
Deep dense wine bursting with complex dark red fruits like cassis, cherry and plum with hints of tobacco followed by a round and seductive mid-palate and a long, structured finish.
History
The Alexander Valley AVA is 22 miles long ranging in elevation from 150 to 1500 feet above sea level and is home to our three single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon wines. Our winegrowers have found the very best grapes grow on higher elevated western slopes, the “sweet spot”. This sweet spot in our three vineyards allows us to choose the best blocks that reside just below the ridge tops with a western facing aspect to capture the full warmth and light of the afternoon sun, thereby achieving the pinnacle of ripeness for Cabernet Sauvignon. In the northernmost hills near our Brothers vineyard, with average temperatures of 67 degrees, heat dominates, allowing Cabernet Sauvignon to ripen well. In the middle of the valley, Rockaway vineyard, with average temperatures of 62 degrees, balances heat and Pacific Ocean cooling breezes—allowing for classic structure development. The even cooler Alexander’s Crown vineyard, with average temperatures of 59 degrees in the southern valley, yields more delicate, “feminine” style Cabernet Sauvignon. In the distance of only 12 short miles, average temperatures change eight degrees among our vineyards during growing season, thereby allowing three very different expressions of Cabernet Sauvignon.
The Vineyards
In the hills to the east of the small town of Cloverdale, Brothers spans 141 acres, nearly all planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, with smaller amounts of Malbec. The vineyard is on well-drained loam underlain by sandstone, shale, and ancient greenstone. Its elevations, surpassing 1,000 feet, and its primarily western aspect perfectly situate the vines to capture the full warmth and light of the afternoon sun, ripening Cabernet well into the chocolate and black fruit profile, with exceptional richness.
