cherryblock 2008 cabernet sauvignon The Vineyards Since its creation, Cherryblock has been our flagship wine at Sebastiani. It is our ultimate interpretation of Sonoma Valley Cabernet based on growing on rocky, volcanic soils. While the core of the Cabernet comes from both the original old-vine block of estate Cabernet and younger vines, we now include small amounts of fruit (Cabernet, Merlot, and Malbec) from other Sonoma Valley sites sharing similar climates and soils. Our goal is to create a more complete and compelling wine, a Cabernet that epitomizes the elegance, structure and graphite, terroir aromatics unique to Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon grown on these soils. The Vintage Our 2008 Cherryblock is comprised of select vineyard blocks planted on volcanic, rocky soils of mid-Sonoma Valley. The Cabernet composition being from the Old Vines Block; the “Young Vines” Block and a benchland block in mid-Sonoma Valley. The Merlot is from Cherryblock and Malbec from the historic “Mission” vineyard planted directly north of the winery. Winemaking The 2008 growing season featured a dry, cold, windy and hot spring. This erratic weither affected the set, and began with lower crops than normal. The Old Vines block was again only 1 ton/acre! Summer weather was slightly warmer than average with veraisson starting 2 weeks ahead of schedule. September was also dry and warm; with a heat wave the 3rd week bringing the Merlot and Malbec the 4th week in September. Ensuing moderate weather allowed Cabernet to ripen without haste by the 3rd week of October. We had amazing concentration on this wine due to both exceptionally low yields and dry, warm summer and fall weather. It is on par with the 2004 and 2001 for concentration and structure! It is classic “Vin de Gaurde”. Winemaker’s Notes Due to the low yields and length of the season, we were able to harvest only five to six tons of Cherryblock fruit each day. The grapes were crushed, de-stemmed and hand sorted using our “micro-crush” equipment to eliminate any stem pieces (jags). This also avoids crushing the seeds and pulverizing the skins. Since 2008 had exceptional color and tannin; only light press fractions were blended back into the free run. All lots were racked off their gross lees with the Cabernet going into 100% new French Oak and the Merlot and Malbec into one-year old French Oak. The initial assemblage happened in April, 2009; with the final blending done in Spring, 2010. It was bottled in August, 2010. ~ Mark R. Lyon, Winemaker Appellation: Sonoma Valley Composition: 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 3.5% Malbec, 1.5% Petite Verdot, 1% Syrah Cooperage: 17 months in French Oak (80% new) Alcohol: 14.5% TA: 0.54 g/100ml pH: 3.67 Bottling Date: August 2010 Release Date: September 2011 Cases: 1300 sebastiani vineyards & winery sonoma, california www.sebastiani.com #6115058.