2018 Gravel Series ‘The Vow’ Cabernet Sauvignon
100% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20 months in 80% new French oak
We dedicate this wine to our siblings, with whom we walk through life and strive to make a difference for the next generation.
Accolades
96 points - Antonio Galloni, Vinous
“...another magnificent wine from Round Pond. Gravel, smoke, black cherry, incense and licorice meld into a core of intense blue and blackish fruit. Swaths of tannin give The Vow its virile power and intensity.”
Tasting Notes
This wine opens with a floral bouquet of lavender, violet and jasmine combined with dark cherry, caramel and cocoa. The traditional Rutherford dust emerges on the palate, where notes of dried sage, blackberry and black cherry flow into a silky, velvety finish. This wine will show beautifully with a decant in its youth and will be at its full potential from 2023-2038.
Vineyard Notes
The Gravel Streak: With over 30 years of winegrowing experience on our Rutherford estate, we have identified unique gravel sections that produce extraordinary fruit. The southeast portion of our Rutherford property, Block 11B, has a gravel riverbed running throughout, with soils that are extremely porous and retain less water during the growing season. The stress in the vine (called hydro-stress) starts very early in the spring, forcing the vine to focus on ripening the fruit, not on the growth of the vine itself. We farm these individual vines with great care throughout the season to produce this deeply concentrated and intensely structured wine.
Winemaker Notes
The 2018 vintage had a near-perfect growing season that began in late February. Spring was mild, with extended flowering yielding uniform grape clusters. Steady, warm temperatures made for a cool, unhurried harvest, and our healthy leaf canopies, allowed the fruit to hang longer and ripen very slowly on the vine. Harvest began with our Sauvignon Blanc in late August and wrapped up the first week of November with our Cabernet Sauvignon. The extended time on the vine and the temperate weather gave a fantastic concentration of ripe flavor and density to the grapes along with high acidity in the wines, resulting in a vintage with natural balance and finesse.
Technical Details
- Type:
- Red
- Varietal:
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Region:
- California
- Appellation:
- Rutherford
- Vintage:
- 2018
- Case Production:
- 6 barrels