VHR Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 Vintage
VHR 2008 Erratic 2008 weather patterns, highlighted by frigid and dry spring conditions, shaped the tiny, highly-concentrated berries harvested from Vine Hill Ranch’s Blocks 4, 6 and 7. This intense fruit expresses the essential profile of a powerful, well-structured and elegant Cabernet Sauvignon.
Block 6 carries the flavors of its forest perimeter—chaparral, bay laurel, brambly black fruits and fresh damp earth—with brooding, tightly woven tannins. Bordered by a creek, Block 7 brings graphite and cobbly stone qualities with smooth, supple tannins. Situated on the loamy soils of our benchland, Block 4 yields a pure and vibrant red cherry fruit; its tannins are fine and flavors exude verve and energy.
Expect wild aromas of crushed blackberries and cassis with dusty cocoa nib, echoes of a woodland floor and hints of lead with dried sage, anise and black truffles. Generously structured and well proportioned, persistent tannins, bright acidity and a core of intense black fruit interweave with a bouquet of dried herbs and layers of earthy minerality.
2008 harvest began in the early morning of September 12th, ending on October 8th. Grapes were scrupulously hand sorted and aged in French Oak for 9 months, then blended and returned to barrel for an additional 12 months. 300 cases were bottled in August 2010.
