The 2020 season started with a warm, dry winter. The rain and cooler weather didn’t arrive until the end of March. While the mild spring season provided a great early start, summer brought very cool mornings and very warm days. Although the harvest was smaller-yielding and proved to be one of the most challenging in history, our winemakers remained optimistic and achieved wines of very high quality with concentrated flavors and excellent acidity from this unprecedented vintage.

Utilizing the latest winemaking technology, we destemmed and sorted the grapes, ensuring only the best berries were used for this iconic wine. A portion of the must was fermented in new French oak barrels to integrate the tannins and enhance the plush texture of the wine. Five to seven days of cold soaking before fermentation, followed by extended skin contact, developed the rich varietal character. Bâtonnage (lees stirring) during malolactic fermentation in the barrel rounded the tannin profile and softened the acidity. Two to three rackings during barrel aging naturally clarified the wine, and after blending, we bottled this perfectly balanced wine without fining.

This outstanding vineyard site on the western Rutherford Bench has yielded grapes for many celebrated Napa Valley wines, dating back to 1880. The current vines were planted in the well-drained, alluvial soils from 1996 to 2002, and budded to Cabernet Sauvignon clones 4, 7, and 8, for flavor diversity and concentration. Hewitt Vineyard has the advantage of being near enough to the Mayacamas Mountains that the vines are on a slightly sloping elevation, yet they’re not shaded by the mountains in the afternoon.