Reaper Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
Reaper 2012 Napa Cabernet continues our fruitful collaboration with the Rebecca Laird and her family. The wine grew entirely on Rebecca’s Smith Ranch property, in the heart of Rutherford, along Mee Lane. The wine was harvested beginning in the last week of October. Harvest continued all the way through the end of the first week of November. The wine was cold soaked for 5 days, inoculated with Premier Cuvee yeast. Pump over occured 2-3 times per day depending on point of fermentation utilizing pump over sprinkler.
We used a classic Bucher press up to 1.5 bars, utlizing zero press cut. ML occurred relatively late, and we did not end up racking the wine into barrel until late winter/early spring. Reaper rested in French Oak barrels for just about 8 months prior to blending and bottling in early January, 2014. The final blend is 85% Cabernet and 15% Merlot.