Cuvée PAU

Early seasonal rains were short of average, but the timing was ideal for vine health and wine quality in 2016. Every phenological marker, from budbreak in spring to bloom and veraison in the summer, occurred 1 to 2 weeks earlier than normal. Cabernet Sauvignon at our Gean Ranch in the Adelaida District woke from dormancy on the 4th of April during a period of 80 degree weather. Vine canopy growth propelled through the spring, bouyed by additional light rains in April. An unusually cool bloom period set in during the latter half of May, which hindered flower pollination and set back crop yields at this vineyard to just 2 tons per acre. Good ripening weather arrived on time for an October 25th harvest of this Cabernet Sauvignon, just days before a season-ending rainshower arrived.