Tucked behind the Komes Ranch on the northwestern edge of the Rutherford appellation is the Hillside Reserve Vineyard. This benchland site sweeps dramatically up the hillside, bordering an ancient creek and wrapping around the natural springs that give our winery its name. The Hillside Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from Block J on the vineyard’s steep slope, was the first Cabernet that was bottled on its own.
Tasting Notes
The 2016 Rutherford Hillside Reserve is a bold, ripe and concentrated wine exhibiting a veritable cornucopia of red, blue and black fruits – red plum, wild blueberry, ripe blackberry and warm cassis play equal roles. Secondary flavors of wild sage, wood smoke and chaparral appear on the mid-palate along with plush notes of vanilla and brown spice from aging in predominantly French oak barrels. This is a highly polished Cabernet, full-bodied and extremely well balanced, with firm yet silky tannins that promise both immediate drinking pleasure and long term aging potential.
Vintage
An early bud break followed by warm weather and spring rains brought a rapid start to an ideal 2016 growing season, one with beautiful weather from bloom, to berry set, to veraison and harvest in our Napa Valley estate vineyards. Our winemaker and vineyard managers worked closely together as the season progressed to ensure grapes ripened uniformly, adjusting vine canopies, thinning fruit and keeping a close eye on soil moisture. The harvest began in mid-August and wrapped up by mid-October, just ahead of the valley’s first significant fall rainstorm.
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