This is our eight vintage from this small, outstanding vineyard on the lower slopes of the eastern Oakville hills. "Pedregal" means a rocky place in Spanish, and that is certainly a distinguishing feature of the site. During 2008 we agreed to a long-term lease of this vineyard which gives us complete control even through any change in ownership, so this is the fourth vintage we've directed farming ourselves. Aging the 2011 sur lies with monthly bâtonnage has coated the tannins and smoothly integrated the wood. We aged this vintage 19 months in completely new French barrels (Taransaud and Darnajou). As with all of our wines, it went through native yeast and malolactic fermentations. This wine combines the harmony produced by traditional Bordelaise winemaking techniques with the volumptuousness of even a cool Napa vintage. Lightly fined with egg whites, it was bottled without filtration in July 2013.