Solena Cabernet Sauvignon Klipsun Vineyard 03

Laurent takes grapes from one of Washington State's highly regarded vineyards and creates a big Cabernet with an Oregon twist. Smooth, rich, and lush, the hot vintage was handled well here by a very skilled winemaker.

Laurent and wife Danielle Andrus Montalieu make wines under the Solena label and run one of the largest "custom crush" facilities in Oregon, making wine for a wide range of wineries, including Lachini and Kudos.

Previous Vintage Tasting Notes

From the winery: This is one of the biggest Klipsun Cabernets I have ever made. The wine is smooth, rich and polished with a pretty core of currant that is enhanced with flavors of tobacco and spice typical to the site. The flavors of dark fruit with some violet tone come out of the glass in a very powerful way. This full bodied wine has a very long lasting finish. Perhaps the best vintage of Klipsun vineyard, this wine is drinkable now but will improve with cellaring to 2010.

2002 Vintage - The fifth consecutive vintage to provide optimum weather for the harvest. Overall the 2002 vintage was hot and dry. Particularly late bloom with early indications of a late harvest, possibly into November. Change in weather provided vines the opportunity to catch up, by late summer an average harvest season was predicted. Fruit quality was spectacular throughout Yamhill County. Clean fruit without a trace of rot or mildew resulting in great flavors and acidity. Harvest resulted in wine of great power, yet with silky and seamless tannins.

KLIPSUN VINEYARD - A few rows of Cabernet Sauvignon in the old blocks of Klipsun Vineyard, are the only sourcing of fruit that we obtain from Washington State. The vineyard was planted by David and Patricia Gelles in 1984 to mostly bi-lateral cordon with an average of 750 plants to the acre. The vines have a light canopy, keeping the foliage to a minimum, especially on the east side of the vine. Red Mountain Appellation is in an arid desert region, west of the Yakima and Columbia rivers. Characterized by daytime temperatures of 90 degrees F, nighttime temperatures can drop below 50 degrees F. The western-exposed vineyard ensures the fruit receives the peak heat and light later in the day.

VINIFICATION - Hand-crafted to achieve a fully extracted and complex style. 15% whole clusters were used to enhance the tannin profile. Cold maceration preceded the open-top, Burgundian style fermentation. The grapes received 23 days of skin contact and daily punchdowns. The juice was gravity fed directly to barrels. 100% Malolactic fermentation occured during a ten month period. The wine spent 18 months in Sylvain French oak (50% new) barrels. This wine was bottled unfiltered and fined with traditional egg whites.