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2014 Hourglass Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker

Anthony Biagi

Vintners

Jeff and Carolyn Smith

Partners

The Chilton and Clark Families

Vineyard Designation

Hourglass Estate

Soil Series

Hambright and Fractured Bedrock

Appellation

St. Helena, Napa Valley

Varietals

100% Cabernet

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Current Vintage Overview

The third year of California’s recent drought cycle, 2014 was marked by a dry warm spring with early bud break and an even, warm summer. Spring conditions contributed to smaller berry sizes and crop loads, and ultimately a fantastic grape chemistry. Ideally balanced, the 2014 wines are reminiscent of those from 2001 - some of the most well preserved of their decade, much like those of the mid-1970s.

Tasting Profile

Aromatically akin to the perfumed 2012 vintage, our 2014 Hourglass is less brooding than the 2013, with more of its traditional dark red pomegranate and currant characteristics weaving together with savory cassis and black currant. An earthy minerality runs through the aromatics and across the palate, lending an umami richness to the interlocking flavors. This minerality is a signature of the iron-rich Hambright fractured bedrock soils in our Hourglass Estate Vineyard and quite consistent vintage to vintage.

The texture is broad and deep with a long arching finish. The structure is classically woven with layers of silky texture enveloping a well-knit core of polished tannin. Less overtly tannic than the 2013 vintage, its sleekness seamlessly glides across the palate. As always, there is a clear sense of the vineyard's yin/yang energies - elegant vibrancy to counter balance its richness and power. The wine's natural acidity creates a lovely tension and lift, lending brightness to what otherwise would be a very dense, rich wine. These counterweights act in concert to elicit great complexity extending the finish in a long afterthought.

Wonderful now, particularly with several hours of decanting to unlock its layered aromas and flavors, the wine will cellar beautifully for 20 or more years, gaining exotic nuances of cedar, tea-leaf and cigar box as it approaches year 2021.

This wine is another in a sequence of some of the finest vintages we have yet produced.

~Jeff Smith, February 2017

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