2016 Le Blend
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Wine Specs
Vintage
2016
Varietal
Blend - red
Harvest Date
August & September
Acid
TA: 6.0 g/L
pH
3.76
Aging
Aged 4+ months in 10% 1-year-old French oak and 7 more months 10% new and 10% 1-year-old French oak (Gillet Cooperage). Twice racked. Filtered, but un-fined.
Alcohol %
13.9
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
Our first vintage of LeBlend (2014) was really just a kitchen-sink blend of components left over after putting all of our other wines together. It ended up being a soft, easy-drinking wine that was more compelling for its broad range of fruit characters than for its tannic or acidic structure. Because of the surprising popularity of that wine, we knew we had to try and repeat that same dumb luck in subsequent vintages. Hopefully we’re doing alright! This is a balanced wine great for pairing with a range of foods and one of our largest blends in 2016 at only 9 barrels.
Vineyard Notes
Willcox AVA - 28% Sangiovese from Carlson Creek Vineyard. Cochise County, AZ. 4,300 ft. elevation. Harvested Aug. 29th - 11% Sangiovese from Cimarron Vineyard. Cochise County, AZ. 4,300 ft. elevation. Harvested Aug. 25th - 22% Barbera from Dragoon Mountain Vineyard. Cochise County, AZ. 4,300 ft. elevation. Harvested Sept. 6th - 19% Tempranillo from Cimarron Vineyard. Cochise County, AZ. 4,300 ft. elevation. Harvested Aug. 23rd - 16% Syrah from Cimarron Vineyard. Cochise County, AZ. 4,300 ft. elevation. Harvested Aug. 20th - 4% Grenache from Cimarron Vineyard. Cochise County, AZ. 4,300 ft. elevation. Harvested Aug. 31st - Sugar at harvest: 24.9 Brix average
Production Notes
Destemmed but not crushed to open-top, 3⁄4-ton bins. All lots were left ~13% whole-cluster except Barbera. Cold-soaked 24 hours, then inoculated with specially selected yeasts (BRL97, 2056, D254, VRB, CLOS, T73, etc). Hand punched 3-4 times daily. Inoculated with Malolactic bacteria (Omega) around 7 Brix. Pressed at dryness after 10 days average skin contact. Settled 2 days average before barreling.
Production
240 cases
Other Notes
Drink now or cellar 3-5+ years
