Combining the heady grandeur of port with the voluptuous flavors of great Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine displays mesmerizing aromas of chocolate-covered espresso beans, black cherry, vanilla and berry cobbler. On the palate, this one-of-a-kind wine has a lush velvety texture, with dark liquid candy flavors of caramel, hazelnut, marmalade and toffee that glide across the palate to a long flowing finish.
Stuhlmuller Vineyards is located at the southern edge of the Alexander Valley, where it converges with two other highly regarded Sonoma County appellations, Chalk Hill and the Russian River Valley. On its eastern edge, the 150-acre vineyard borders the Russian River. Situated in a location that is part river benchlands and part hillside, the vineyard benefits from its alluvial gravel soils, as well as the rockier soils of the hillside sections.
Crafted in the style and tradition of a great Port, this special limited- production wine was made exclusively from our estate grapes, with a focus on Cabernet Sauvignon grown on the hillside sections of our vineyard. The wine was fermented in small 1 to 2 ton wooden fermenters using the traditional pigeage method of foot treading. Fermentation was arrested with the addition of barrel-aged brandy, and the wine was transferred to 10% new American oak and 90% French oak barrels for an average of four years of aging.
