Vine Cliff Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Napa Valley (Vine Cliff wines by varietal / Cabernet Sauvignon) -- Vine Cliff Winery Shopping Cart -- Valley Napa 2003 Sauvignon Cabernet Cliff Vine

<H1>Vine Cliff Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Napa Valley -- Vine Cliff Winery Shopping Cart</H1> $50.00 <IMG SRC="https://store.nexternal.com/vinecliff/images/napa_valley_cab_store_lb_lg1.jpg" ALIGN=right ALT="Vine Cliff Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Napa Valley" NAME="Vine Cliff Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Napa Valley" BORDER=0 HSPACE=10> The grapes for our 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon came from two of our estate vineyards, Oakville and Calistoga. The 2003 growing season produced vines with good natural balance thus requiring less canopy management compared with the 2002 growing season. Conditions leading up to harvest were challenging with consistently warmer temperatures in September. With several heat spikes irrigation was critical. Low yields and a cool October allowed good physiological maturity and flavor development. In 2003 the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon blend was a mix of approximately one-third Napa Valley (Calistoga) appellation fruit and two-thirds Oakville Bench fruit. The Calistoga fruit contributes floral aromatics, mouth feel and finesse to the blend, while the Oakville fruit imparts structure and concentration.At Vine Cliff we employ gentle fruit handling and small batch fermentations to produce our cabernets. Our grapes are hand harvested and sorted before being destemmed into small stainless steel fermenters. At the conclusion of a 48 hour cold soak, the must is warmed and inoculated with cultured yeast to initiate fermentation. The maceration averaged two weeks for the 2003 vintage. When the ideal balance between flavor concentration and sweet tannin was reached the fermenter was drained and pressed. The free run wine was drained into 56% tight grain, center of France, Chateau style barrels for aging in the caves. Individual vineyard blocks are aged as separate wine lots until the final blend was determined. The 2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon blend is 88% cabernet sauvignon, 9% cabernet franc and 3% petite verdot. Other products in the category <A HREF="http://www.nexternal.com/vinecliff/Category5" TITLE="Vine Cliff wines by varietal">Vine Cliff wines by varietal</A> / <A HREF="http://www.nexternal.com/vinecliff/Category1" TITLE="Cabernet Sauvignon">Cabernet Sauvignon</A>: <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/vinecliff/Product40 TITLE="Vine Cliff Cabernet Franc 2005 Napa Valley">Vine Cliff Cabernet Franc 2005 Napa Valley</A> -- Premier Release-Sold Exclusively at the winery or on this site! <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/vinecliff/Product38 TITLE="Vine Cliff Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Napa Valley">Vine Cliff Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Napa Valley</A> <LI><A HREF=http://www.nexternal.com/vinecliff/Product37 TITLE="Vine Cliff Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Oakville">Vine Cliff Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Oakville</A> -- Our Flagship Wine <A HREF="http://www.nexternal.com/vinecliff" TITLE="Vine Cliff Winery Products">Vine Cliff Winery Products</A> <A HREF="http://vinecliff.com">Vine Cliff Winery</A> Vine Cliff Winery <A HREF="http://www.nexternal.com" TITLE="shopping cart">shopping cart</A> powered by Nexternal