2000 Cuvée St.E

Purchase 2000 Cuvée St.E

VINTAGE

The year 2000 was a vintage of patience! Despite early bud break, some unseasonably warm weather during the growing season and several heat-spike weeks, "true" ripening happened very slowly. Most vintages have an order of ripening with tannins coming first, followed by pigments and then sugars in red varieties. In 2000, these typical ripening characteristics came in reverse order, with most grapes reaching sugars well above 24º Brix before achieving "flavor" ripeness. Cabernet Franc, like Merlot, is one of the early ripening Bordeaux varieties, but requires much longer hang time. In 2000, this meant leaving the Cabernet Franc on the vine two weeks longer than Merlot to get the intensity of color, flavor and fragrance.

TECHNICAL DATA

Composition: 98.7% Cabernet Franc and 1.3% Merlot
Harvest Dates: September 29, 2000
Process: Harvested early afternoon, destemmed and crushed to
stainless steel fermenters.
Harvest Chemistries: 26.2°Brix average, pH=3.65, Total Acidity=0.46 g/100 ml

Vinification:
Yeast: Lalvin D254
Fermentation: Stainless steel fermented
Temperature: 86°F
Extended
Maceration: None
Malolactic: Inoculation and completion in stainless steel
Maturation: 24 Months in 100% New French Oak Barrels
Barrel Type: 100% New French Oak Bordeaux Chateau Ferre-Style Barrels (60.9 gallons)
Forests: Center of France
Cooper: Tonnellerie Sylvain, Libourne, France

Post-Maturation: Rack from barrels, unfiltered to bottle
Bottle Aging: 24 months in bottle prior to release

Bottling Chemistries:
PH: 3.77
Total Acidity: 0.63 g/100 ml
Alcohol: 15.2% by volume

WINEMAKER'S COMMENTS
The 2000 J. Lohr Cuvée St. E is a deeply flavorful blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. The wine is a dark red-purple color with aromas of red currants, coffee, cherry cough drops, dried leaves and raspberry combined with a complex toasted cedar, vanilla and tar bouquet from barrel aging. My objective is to simulate the complexity and elegance found in the Premier Grand Cru Classé wines from St. Emilion. The Cuvée St.E exhibits a finesse and seamless structured elegance on the palate - a result of the careful blending of different Bordeaux varieties without the restraints of varietal percentages.

Jeff Meier, winemaker

Purchase 2000 Cuvée St.E

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2001 Cuvée POM -- VINTAGE The 2001 harvest was very similar to the 2000. Experience from 2000 showed us that letting the fruit reach full phenolic ripeness was advantageous to quality. This basically means that we waited for the seeds to develop from a green color into dark brown, by which time the pulp has generally softened and the color becomes easily extracted. The J. Lohr Cuvée Series wines may come from any . . .

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