MAGNUM - YAO MING Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2009
97 Points - Wine Enthusiast
TASTING NOTES
Appearance exhibits dark garnet color. Bursting with dark fruit flavors of plum, blueberry and mocha with hints of dark chocolate, graphite, and lavender lead to vanilla and toasted notes. A rich evolving mouth-feel with long elegant tannins and a long soft textured finish. This wine will age and develop over many years.
WINEMAKING
Fruit was rigorously hand sorted and fully destemmed to small stainless steel tanks with no crushing. Cold soaks (5-7 days), warm fermentations between 29– 32°C (85-90°F), and moderate pumpovers (twice a day or less) were done this year in order to adapt to what nature gave us. Total skin contact ranged from 21-40 days with all fermentations being carefully basket pressed and put to barrel on full fermentation lees for malolactic fermentation (ML). Racking was twice per year with only one assemblage being done to allow the blend to “marry” in barrel. Barrels for final blend were hand selected by taste. Native yeast and ML used with only small lots conducted using cultured Bordeaux isolates. Bottled without filtration.