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Previously available only to restaurants. However, the public has spoken, and Ancien has heard your voice! Full case sales only, please. Perfect for any night of the week, with dinner, a movie, or just relaxing in your favorite chair.
About the Vineyard...
Our 2007 Carneros designate comes
predominantly from the Toyon Farm, located on the eastern, Napa, side
of Carneros, on a fan-shaped, south-west facing slope. Underneath the
typical Carneros clay and alluvial soils are layers of shale, which add
spicy notes to the darker, more brooding flavors and aromas. We planted
the first block of this vineyard in 1998 with cuttings originating from
the Swan estate in the Russian River Valley--and these, in turn, were
brought from Burgundy by Joseph Swan in the 1950's and '60's. Our
selection of Swan clones tends to produce smaller berries and deep
structures. So, in 1999, we added a block of Dijon 115, which with its
characteristic perfume and lighter fruit notes, provides a winning
complement to the Swan. In addition, we introduced a small amount of
old vine, Martini selection fruit from a nearby vineyard, adding
lighter layers of floral aromas, sandalwood, and red fruits.
About the Vintage...
The
weather in 2007 remained cool and steady throughout August and
September, allowing the grapes to achieve optimal ripeness levels
without sacrificing acidity, resulting in wines that come close to that
difficult to realize platonic point of balance between power and grace,
depth and vivacity. We expect that our decision to pick while acidity
remained high, as well as our detailed attention to maximum fruit
extraction, will allow these wines to preserve bright uplift and
focused fruit on the mid-palate, even as they continue to age,
deepening and adding exciting layers, such as spice, mushroom, cacao,
and forest floor.
About the Wine...
We separated
the entire lot into 1 ton, open-top fermenters, employing traditional
punch-downs by hand in order to achieve optimal extraction. About 5% of
the fruit was fermented as whole clusters, and we co-fermented some of
the Swam and Dijon 115 lots, adding new layers of complexity and
harmony between the different fruits. The wine was aged in an array of
French cooperage, nearly half new, and gently racked once prior to
bottling. Grapes, must, and wines were moved using gravity through to
the barrel and using inert gas through racking and bottling. 1031 cases
produced. Tasting Notes...
The nose opens with a
burst of fresh, just-ripened cherry fruits moving towards a richer
dried cranberry and kirsch, spiced with chocolate, cloves, and baking
spices. Aromas open up to exhibit an exotic, perfumed overlay of
sarsaparilla, cola, sandalwood, rose petal and lilac. The palate is
well-structured, exhibiting a balanced basket of black, brambly fruit,
plum, ripe cherry and strawberry, spiced with cardamom and dark
chocolate. The midpalate is lush and deep, lifted with a fresh wash of
acidity and followed by mouth-filling tannins. This wine will grow
darker and deeper with time, finding a more brooding expression after
3-5 years, and the balanced structure of acidity and tannin will
support the graceful aging of this wine for the next decade.
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