| |
| Release Date: |
Debut: Fall 2000; Re-release: Fall
2004. |
| Suggested Retail Price: |
$85 per 750ml |
| Vineyard Location: |
Long Meadow Ranch Bear Canyon Vineyard
(100%) |
| Harvest Dates:
|
Harvested September,
1997 |
| Varietal Composition: |
97% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet
Franc |
| Brix @ Harvest: |
24.0° |
| Cooperage: |
Aged 26 months in French
oak coopered by Seguin-Moreau. Medium toast. 50 percent new. |
| Alcohol: |
13.6 percent |
| Production: |
Less than 2000 cases |
| Food
Affinities: |
Perfect with Long Meadow Ranch Grass-fed Highland Beef, with lamb, or with roasted game. |
| Growing Season: |
This outstanding season started when
the warm, dry soils at the end of February triggered bud break
a full month early. Bloom followed in early May. As the fruit set,
we recognized that the outstanding weather of the previous year
would result in an exceptional crop. A temperate summer with moderate,
steady temperatures allowed the fruit to reach optimal maturity
with good hang time for the full development of character and flavors.
1997 was a vintage of great quality and quantity throughout the
Napa Valley and especially in our mountaintop location. |
| Winemaker’s
Comments: |
“This wonderful
vintage from the Long Meadow Ranch vineyard confirmed that we
have a truly distinctive terroir. The deep black cherry aromas
and the blueberry and red plum fruit combined to create a clearly
recognizable signature for this wine. Upon release the ’97
was a full, voluptuous expression of mountain fruit. And, now
as the wine has evolved, it is beginning to show hints of tar
and cedar.” - Cathy Corison |
| The Vineyards: |
Southwest-facing estate vineyards
at 1100 feet elevation atop the Mayacamas Mountains at the edge
of Bear Canyon. Development began in 1990. Managed by organic
pioneer Frank Leeds. Budwood hand-selected from the Bella Oaks
Vineyard in Rutherford and Jordan Vineyard in Alexander Valley,
planted on 110R rootstock at 9x5 spacing and using contoured terraces.
This is the first vineyard established on Long Meadow Ranch since
before Prohibition. |
|
Long Meadow Ranch: |
Owned by Ted and Laddie Hall, LMR
employs an integrated organic farming system using simple, sustainable
methods. Each part of the Ranch contributes to the health of
the whole. Vineyards and wine making, olive orchards and olive
oil making, cattle and horse breeding all work together in complementary
fashion, as do the egg-laying poultry flock and the organic vegetable
gardens. “Estate” fertilizers are created through
an extensive composting operation that relies on organic material
from each segment of the Ranch. Soil erosion is controlled and
new soils are built through the extensive use of permanent cover
crops made up of carefully selected grasses, clovers, and legumes.
All crops are certified organic by the California Certified Organic
Farmers and are grown without the use of herbicides, pesticides,
or chemical fertilizers. |
1775 Whitehall Lane
St. Helena, California 94574-9786
Phone: (707) 963-4555
Fax: (707) 963-1956
www.longmeadowranch.com |
