The Story
Our Short & Sweet® story begins on the evening of October 8th 2017. This is a picture of the Cabernet fruit in the Yountville vineyard about 5-6 hours before a devastating fire started in the eastern hills of the Napa Valley just north of this location. We were all set to harvest the next morning, but that didn't happen.
The Fire
That devastating fire burned for miles through the eastern hills of the Napa Valley. This is a picture of the Yountville Cabernet vineyard just two days later on October 10th 2017. The hills and ridge lines in the background have been blackened by the fire and smoke still lingered in the air.
With fruit still on the vines, this vineyard in the Yountville AVA as well as two other vineyards in Napa Valley's Oak Knoll District, another Cabernet vineyard and a Zinfandel vineyard would not be harvested for about another 5 weeks.
The Juice
As time passed with the fruit still on the vines, berry samples were taken and tasted from all three vineyards. The juice was deliciously sweet. High sugars and wonderful flavors began to emerge providing the structure and basis for a unique dessert wine.
The Harvest
The three vineyards were finally harvested on November 16th and 17th 2017. The combination of both Cabernet and Zinfandel fruit produced a delicious blend.
The fruit used was 100 % Napa Valley from the Yountville AVA and the Oak Knoll District. The fruit blend was approximately :
58 % Cabernet
42 % Zinfandel
The Aging
Both new and used French Oak were used in the aging process. The French oak has added beautiful characteristics to the wine, here shown during the racking process in May of 2019.
The Wine
Our delicious Short & Sweet® dessert wine was produced using a method similar to that developed in the late 13th century in the South of France leaving both residual sugar and elevated alcohol.
Tasting Notes:
This wine is a concentrated dark ruby red color with slight garnet undertones. The nose of this wine has rich and luscious flavors of Medjool dates, mission figs, currants and candied black plums with lingering notes of dark chocolate and subtle hints of dark roasted hazelnuts. The palate is sweet and nicely balanced with flavors of deeply ripened dark fruits, sweet spices and gentle tannins. This dessert wine is best served at room temperature or slightly chilled in a cordial glass.
It drinks beautifully on its own as a digestif or alongside dark chocolate covered cherries or strong aged cheeses such as gouda or stilton.
So when you think of dessert wine, please
Make it Short and Sweet ®
