This vintage marks our eighth working with Kathy and this remarkable vineyard. The remarkably consistent weather, characterized by lower highs and higher lows than our North Coast vineyards, conspires with silica-laden, marine sedimentary soils to make wines of power and exceptional structure. The vineyard is managed and owned in partnership by Kathy Joseph, who has planted an array of clones and rootstocks on several, varied soils to create a staggering level of diversity from this single vineyard. As an East-West oriented valley, opening its mouth to the cool Pacific breezes, the consistent and cooling marine influence is significant. Rita Hills AVA, which straddle the Santa Ynez River as it makes its way to the Pacific Ocean. The Fiddlestix Vineyard is located in the Sta. Cellaring this wine for a decade or beyond will reveal a silky texture hidden beneath layers of relatively powerful tannins that dominate its early years. The firm, velvety and mouth-filling tannins emphasize structure, while ever present acidity balances and brightens. The spicy aromatics and flavors continue through the long finish. Fresh dark fruits lead the palate, and the focus settles on ripe flavors of blackberry and currants spiced with peppercorn and tobacco. The nose greets with rich notes of black cherry, ripe blueberry, wet slate, and blood orange. Youthfully bold with notes of fruit and exotic spice, this wine is enjoyable to drink now with plenty of life to give for years down the line. We held the wine in bottle for nearly a year before release. The wine was aged for 17 months in an array of Francois Frères and Remond cooperage, entirely of Bertrange Oak and a majority new. We fermented with a combination of RC212 and Assmannshausen yeasts, with a peak temperature of 94☏. We utilized a combination of hand punch-downs and a submerged cap device in order to optimally control extraction from the skins. The grapes were 100% destemmed into an open top fermenter and cold soaked for 5 days.
While not as early as projected, our harvest still ended up wrapping up long before the rains of October came. After this brief spell, very warm days followed by cool nights finished off the growing season, giving us a great balance of ripe fruit and mouthwatering acidity. An unseasonably cool spell visited us mid-summer, slowing down growth. The 2016 vintage began early, much like the previous vintages, and the optimal growing season caused us to speculate that this would be a very early harvest as well. We received much needed rain in the winter of 2015, which put us back on the road to having healthier levels of soil moisture. Rita Hills AVA, which straddle the Santa Ynez River as it makes its way to the Pacific Ocean. As an East-West oriented valley, opening its mouth to the cool Pacific breezes, the consistent and cooling marine influence is significant. The vineyard is managed and owned in partnership by Kathy Joseph, who has planted an array of clones and rootstocks on several, varied soils to create a staggering level of diversity from this single vineyard. The remarkably consistent weather, characterized by lower highs and higher lows than our North Coast vineyards, conspires with silica-laden, marine sedimentary soils to make wines of power and exceptional structure. This vintage marks our eighth working with Kathy and this remarkable vineyard.
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