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Novy Family Wines Current Releases -
2000 Alder Springs Vineyard Cabernet Blend
The 2000 Novy Cellars Cabernet Blend is our first attempt at blending
three of the classic Bordeaux varietals together to produce one
complete wine. Although all of our wines are blends of different
winemaking techniques and oak regimens they are rarely blends of
different varietals. So, to accomplish this feat, we tasted through
blend after blend of Merlot based wines with a number of them being
quite good but nothing really hitting the spot. Then, at the suggestion
of a good friend (thanks Mike), we decided to try a Cabernet Sauvignon
based blend and suddenly everything fell into place. The resulting
wine comes from these efforts and is, in our opinion, a superbly
balanced, wonderful rich "old world" Bordeaux blend.
The Alder Springs Vineyard is in the far northern part of Mendocino
County near the town of Laytonville. Stuart Buelly, the vineyard
owner, takes great pride in growing the finest grapes possible and
selling his fruit to wineries such as Behrens & Hitchcock, Patz
& Hall, and Novy Cellars (of course). The vineyard itself is
on a step hillside and, as is often the case with hillside vineyards,
produces very little crop. The corresponding berries are tiny with
a high skin-to-juice ratio leading to concentrated, dark wines.
We harvested the grapes for this blend on 3 different days-with
the Merlot being picked on October 9 and again on October 11, and
the Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc being harvested on October
23. The Merlot was definitely the ripest of the components (at least
in terms of sugar) but both the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Cabernet
Franc possessed wonderful flavors and good levels of natural acidity,
especially for so late in the growing season. We fermented each
of these components separately and treated them as their own individual
wines. Ultimately, they were pressed directly to new French oak-primarily
to barrels designed for the great Bordeaux estate Haut-Brion. We
treated the wines unusually gently for Bordeaux varietals, never
racking the wine until blending in tank and then bottling by gravity.
The 2000 Novy Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Cabernet Franc
blend has turned out to be an outstanding wine. Our tasting trials
ultimately led to a final blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot,
and 13% Cabernet Franc. On the nose the wine immediately shows itself
to be Cabernet Sauvignon with aromas of tobacco, cedar, and crushed
fruits. In the mouth this initial impression is confirmed but then
the Merlot and Cabernet Franc components take over with a particularly
lush, fruit-filled mid-palate. The finish once again shows the Cabernet
influence with good tannins and some lingering acidity. Quite frankly,
we have no idea how long the wine will age but know that it will
only improve with several years in the cellar.
CASE PRODUCTION: 95 cases
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