2005 Cabernet Sauvignon

When it comes to wine style, I believe that wine is food.  Wine is an integral part of a meal, not a meal in and of itself and not the showcase of the meal.  To me integration is key.  I want to make a wine people can enjoy with their favorite foods, a wine that complements a well balanced yummy meal with a well balanced, yummy wine.  Tangles is soft, relatively low in alcohol (generally just above or below 14%).  Due to the cool growing area of Napa, the aromas combine red fruit such as raspberry with darker fruits such as cassis,  and blackberry and a healthy dose of spices such as allspice and in some years lavendar.   What sets Tangles apart from many, many other wines is its yumminess, it is pretty, soft, generally feminine and easy to enjoy with a meal.  Many have commented that it seems European in style owing both to the cooler growing area compared to most of Napa and California in general and to the techniques used to perfect the fruit expression and highlight the vineyard.

For those interested in the technical......

Once the grapes are harvested from my small, organically farmed vineyard in south east Napa they are gently destemmed and very lightly crushed to liberate a small amount of juice, leaving the remaining grape berries intact.  This intact fruit is important in the finished wine for complexity and retention of both fresh fruit characteristics and layers of flavor.  Destemming is the act of removing the stems which cannot be fermented with the juice, seeds and skins because they would impart a bitter characteristic.   The juice, skins and seeds, without the stems is referred to as “must”.   The Tangles must is fermented in 1 ton insulated fermenters that simulate wood or concrete without the problems of those materials.  Fermentation is initiated after approximately 4 days soak on the skins.  If the must starts out at favorable (cooler than 55ｰF) temperature, fermentation can be left to start spontaneously.  That is to say that the yeast that were present on the berries when they were harvested are safe and able to ferment a complex and interesting wine without any downsides.  However, if the must starts out too warm, the chance of a bacterial infection is likewise increased and it is not worth letting the “indigenous” yeast compete with any bacteria like lactobacillus that might cause flavor problems.  A freeze dried yeast inoculation is warranted whenever the grapes are not sufficiently cool or when other rot related conditions have occurred such as late rains or when broken berries exist on the vine.