2020 Armillary Cabernet Sauvignon
ABOUT ARMILLARY
An armillary is a metal cage around a globe consisting of a spherical framework of rings representing lines of celestial longitude and latitude, as well as other astronomically important features. As the FAY and S.L.V. Estate Vineyards are the center of our world at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, a concentrated blend of the two could be considered our armillary, guiding and influencing everything we do.
VINEYARDS & WINEMAKING
ARMILLARY is 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Cabernet Franc from FAY and S.L.V. made in a bold style with notes of chocolate and sweet berries that will age well over time. Individual lots are blended early in the fermentation process to enable the flavors to marry together during the aging process. The wine is 50% from FAY and 50% from S.L.V. and was aged for 19 months in 100% new French oak barrels. The wine was bottled without filtration.
VINTAGE
A dry and hot growing season, coupled with a global pandemic, and multiple wildfires made 2020 a year we won’t forget. Due to the dry winter, we started more tillage than normal in February to preserve soil moisture and reduce competition. Rain right at bloom interrupted fruit set and provided a “natural fruit thinning” that brought the crop in balance relative to the dry soil conditions. We were excited during the heart of the growing season, as vines were in balance, and the timing of impactful viticulture practices (leafing, crop adjustment, etc.) was nearly perfect. Several heat events, including a three-day heat spike over Labor Day weekend, led to an early harvest. This was the year of the LNU Complex Wildfire and the Glass Fire Complex. As we do every vintage, we taste grapes daily in the vineyards and back up what we are tasting with lab analysis. We are fortunate to have ready access to our own lab as well as the tools necessary to make educated picking, winemaking and bottling decisions, ensuring overall wine quality. The warm weather during this vintage produced wines with a riper character. We are very pleased with the resulting wines from the 2020 vintage (although there won’t be as many bottles) to carry our legacy forward.
TASTING NOTES
This wine opens with dark fruit aromas, coffee beans, clove, molasses, cedar and oak spices. Powerful structure, rich tannins, blackberry. On the palate, the wine has a lasting full-bodied finish with a hint of spice notes. Try pairing this Cabernet with rack of lamb, or pork lion roast.