Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Winemaker: Jake Simpson
Winemaking Consulant: Joe Farley
Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Planted exclusively with Estrella Clone 8, Whalebone Vineyard’s south facing limestone slopes support vines bearing small clusters of tiny berries full of rich flavors and tannins. Our vineyard is comprised of four distinct blocks planted in soils with variations of depths as well as shale and limestone rock intrusions that ultimately shape the character of the wines yielded from them. Our estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignons are some of the last grapes harvested in the entire Paso Robles region, normally ripening during the last weeks of October.
Hand picking at full maturity, which generally completes after short, cooler fall days ensue, assures us of balanced wines fully expressive of our unique terroir. We typically bring our fruit in at 24.5 brix, which keeps the alcohols well in check, and retain ample acidity to assure that the varietal flavors remain lively and vibrant.
Fermentation is done in small vats utilizing a combination of both open-top fermenters manually punched down, and traditional, pumped-over tanks. Each method can add complexity of tannins and/or fruit intensity, depending upon a variety of factors, and the ultimate goal is to fully extract what each lot of fruit has to offer.
Separately fermented and aged, each lot of wine is barreled in top quality French and American oak for 20 months. We carefully select the finest barrels of each lot for our vintage Cabernet Sauvignon bottling, with the remainder blended into a major component of BobWine. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, Whalebone vintage Cabernet Sauvignon offers richly classic Bordeaux flavors in a uniquely Paso Robles style.