Sawyer Cellars Estate Bradford Meritage 2006
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Here's a balanced, young Cab-based Bordeaux blend. It's juicy in tutti-frutti Lifesaver candy flavors of blackberries, cherries and raspberries, yet is quite dry, and the acid-tannin structure gives it an elegant framework. Seems best now for its youthful pizzazz.
Here's what they like share about their wines: Our wines reflect the unique characteristics of each vintage and of the Rutherford growing district. It begins in the vineyard---as we use only a small percentage of the grapes grown on our estate, the fruit that is perfect to the eye and loaded with flavor. We hire harvest crews chosen for their selective picking techniques, and then we hand sort to insure we are using nothing but the finest fruit. Using gentle, gravity-fed systems in the winery, a judicious use of oak barrel aging in the finest French oak, and daily attention to the wines during aging, we produce the finest wines possible in small, select quantities.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.