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Malbec is one of the "big five" grape varieties in Bordeaux included in the "Cabernet family" of grapes. It plays a lesser role than Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc or Merlot, more so for its viticultural aspects than for its wine quality. In Bordeaux, Malbec is notorious for setting a light crop due to unfavorable spring time weather, and thus has fallen out of favor. In Napa, even though spring conditions are somewhat better, it still has a reputation for being alternate bearing, i.e. a good crop size one year and few grapes the next year. Viticultural considerations aside, Malbec is valuable as a wine for its deep, dark purple color, its fragrant aromas, ranging from black cherry to black pepper, and its texture which is lush and juicy in the mid palette and very soft on the finish. Obviously it is a perfect complement to the tannic, brooding Cabernet Sauvignon, but produces a beautiful stand alone wine, as well.
The 2007 Ladera Malbec is a blend of fruit from our two mountain vineyards. 70% of the Malbec is from the Howell Mountain vineyard and the other 30% from Lone Canyon vineyard. This is a nice combination of each of these unique terroirs. The rolling hills and volcanic soils of our Howell Mountain vineyard lend to the bold dark fruit characters while the steep slopes and gravely soils of Lone Canyon contribute to the intense phenolic structure and complexity of this wine.
We harvested 2.1 tons of Malbec from the Lone Canyon vineyard on September 6, 2007. Twelve days later on September 18, 2007, we harvested 2.5 tons from Howell Mountain. Due to the small yields, the Malbec is hand sorted and gravity fed to small open top fermenters. It is manually punched down three times per day and fermented to dryness. The fermentation was completed in 11 days. We lightly pressed the Malbec before barrel aging for 11 months in 54% new French oak barrels. The wine was bottled on August 13, 2008 at 257 cases.
The 2007 Ladera Malbec is consistent in style and character to our past vintages of this distinct varietal. This wine is hauntingly dark in color. It is rich with floral aromatics followed by black cherry, dark plum, cola, cocoa, white pepper, smoked meats and toasty vanilla. This wine has a bright and clean entry with a lofty and weighted body and a bold masculine structure. Dark and ripe fruit flavors lead to a well balanced mid palate. The tannins are soft and wet yet lengthy enough to leave the palate craving more.
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