Tasting Notes

The 2019 Red Experiment B5.9 focuses on a singular block of the OVID estate. The spectacular vintage started with a wet winter, similar to the stunning 2010 and 2017 growing seasons. Full soil reservoirs and a cool start to the year pushed budbreak to mid-April, a little later than normal. Early June heat slowed the vines' growth and the shoots reached ideal length.

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Varietals

• 64.36% Cabernet Sauvignon
• 19.82% Cabernet Franc
• 13.01% Merlot
• 2.81% Petit Verdot

Methodology

We started picking in early October and finished the utterly superb 2019 vintage by the third week of the same month. In 2000, we planted Block 5 in extremely volcanic clay loam along the ridgeline of our property. The sparse resources defining this block always posed a challenge to experimentation. But, as if farming under a magnifying glass, this transparency taught us how to best farm the site.

In Conclusion

With a cooler than average vintage, the vines began their switch from growing shoots to focusing on the tender fruit. Veraison was quick with a warmer mid-August ensuring a rapid finish. Harvest saw foggy mornings and long, pleasant days, gracing us with a luxurious pace. The resulting 2019 Red Experiment B5.9 reveals incredible power and density inherent to this site, unfurling across the palate with beautifully burnished tannins - the joys of the many lessons learned captured in vibrant and radiant expression.