Hedges Family Wines - CMS Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

Price: $17.50

Producer	Hedges Family Wines
Country	United States
Region	Washington
Subregion	Columbia Valley
Varietal	Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage	2017
Sku	04136

Hedges Family Wines Description

Tasting Notes:
Gorgeous dark crimson color. A little bit of cassis, fig, black pepper and cinnamon bark add to this exotic and interesting wine. The wine shines through on the palate adding a lot of structure, backbone and dark flavors. The Syrah and Merlot balance well and adds a slight softening effect on the mouthfeel.

Cellaring:
Ready to drink now, this wine has the structure to age for 5 to 10 more years.

Production:
The grapes were sourced from Sagemoor, Wooded Island and Bacchus vineyards in the Columbia Valley AVA and Hedges Estate, Jolet and Les Gosses vineyards in the Red Mountain AVA. The must was pumped-over for 8 days and pressed to tank, where it underwent malo-lactic fermentation. The Columbia Valley portion of this wine was fermented to dryness on 100% American Oak and aged on 100% French oak. It was 100% barrel aged for 5 months in 100% neutral oak. The Red Mountain AVA wines were 100% barrel aged in 100% neutral American and French oak for 11 months.

Harvest Notes:
2017 started off cold! January stayed in the upper teens for most of the month and dipped into the negatives for a day or two. Along with the cold we had a lot of snow! Spring was damp and the hills had never been so green. Things started to heat up around July and August. Surrounding fires were an issue and a blanket of smoke lingered in the sky, which really dampened the suns UV rays. We think this actually helped the vines slow down ripening due to less photosynthesis taking place. Luckily the fires were far enough away that smoke taint was not an issue at all. We had a mild September and October which really stretched out the maturation period allowing flavors to develop nicely without Brix getting too high. 2017 was a really interesting year and an exciting one! The resulting wines have been full of color and flavor, especially here on Red Mountain.