Winery Notes:

As a growing season, 2018 was sensational. From the first cherries in the early spring, to the last apples and pears of the late summer, every fruit and vegetable was intense in flavor, and generous in yield. This always bodes well for the wines from the season. The grapes from our Oakville vineyard developed beautifully all season long, with a slow, steady build in color and aromatics, and a uniform maturing of tannins in the end. The result is a lineup of wines that is distinctive, dense, and highly polished. The rounded edges make the wines accessible in their youth, but the real payoff will come with bottle age, given the massive structure and concentration.

The latest vintage of Collina Dalla Valle is a lesson in balance and precision. A blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Cabernet Franc, and and 6% Petit Verdot, the wine has an aromatic fine focus on the fundamentals: black fruits, cedar, vanilla bean and flint. It completely overdelivers, showing the strength of our hillside terroir. This offering, typically crafted from the younger vines on the property, seems to have been elevated by this stellar vintage. Tannins are fine grained but present, and the mid-palate is silky, generous, and long, with flavors of blueberry, black cherry, and dark chocolate. It is certainly a vivid look at this wonderfulvintage on our estate.