2020 Cabernet Sauvignon
What an amazing well-balanced and cellar worthy wine! The front, mid and back palate work impeccably well,. This wine is elegantly fashioned, with good structure, firm yet soft on the finish and this is certainly a great candidate for long term cellaring. This all estate wine has steadily gained good traction as Sculpterra’s premier bottle, and this latest release is one of its best Cabernet wines to date. It’s clear to see good balance between black-currant, dark cherry fruits and a refined structure, the wine has a great potential. The supremacy of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend is clearly seen, but the additions of Merlot with Petit Verdot provide unique flavors and finish to the overall blend. My favorite part of this wine is its initial character of rich black-coffee flavors that evolve into pepper and cooking spices. At 22% new oak the finish shows off vanilla and roasted bouquets.
Tasting notes
What an amazing well-balanced and cellar worthy wine! The front, mid and back palate work impeccably well,. This wine is elegantly fashioned, with good structure, firm yet soft on the finish and this is certainly a great candidate for long term cellaring. This all estate wine has steadily gained good traction as Sculpterra’s premier bottle, and this latest release is one of its best Cabernet wines to date. It’s clear to see good balance between black-currant, dark cherry fruits and a refined structure, the wine has a great potential. The supremacy of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend is clearly seen, but the additions of Merlot with Petit Verdot provide unique flavors and finish to the overall blend. My favorite part of this wine is its initial character of rich black-coffee flavors that evolve into pepper and cooking spices. At 22% new oak the finish shows off vanilla and roasted bouquets.
Production notes
Each lot was picked and then immediately brought to the winery for processing. We whole berry destemmed the fruit with only light crushing implemented. We cold soaked each lot for up to 2 days before introducing cultured yeast for fermentation. Each lot had a specific cultured yeast for fermentation. We used ICVD-254 for the “Autopista” Hillside Cabernet lot for its ability to increase volume in the wine’s mouthfeel and inherent ability to bring forth dark fruity taste. We tank and barrel fermented these lots in both upright stainless tanks and brand new 500L French Oak barrels. Pressing was conducted at low PSI and then we settled the young wine for 3 days before finally putting the wine to bed in a mix of new and used oak. Cabernet “Chivos” lot aged in tight grain, heavy toast French Oak barrels, greatly adding to the wine’s smoky taste and rich finish. The wine was racked just one-time post Malo-Lactic Fermentation, followed by another 14 months of barrel age before being blended and bottled in May of 2022.
Download Wine Notes |
Vintage | 2020 |
Varietal | Cabernet Sauvignon |
Varietal Composition | 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot |
Appellation | Paso Robles |
Vineyard | 100% Frankel Family Estate |
Acid | 0.65 g/100 ml |
PH | 3.70 |
Residual Sugar | 0.04 g/100 ml |
Alcohol | 14.00% |
Volume | 750 ml |
Bottling Date | 05/19/2022 |
Cases Produced | 990 |
This incredible 2020 Sculpterra Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% sourced from our breath-taking estate vineyard. Sculpterra Cabernet’s are steady and true, with big and bold dark fruit flavors, yet balanced with satisfying herbal notes and a dry tannic core and lingering finish. This wine combines four different Cabernet vineyards, along with a small addition of Merlot and Petit Verdot; and as you can imagine this wine is very complex and vibrant. Our Cabernet vines are now 30 years old, and produce consistent yields with tiny berries with intense flavor and color. A good amount of off-season rains helped to rejuvenate our soils and push forward to normal bud break. 2020 was a super challenging year in Paso Robles for many reasons. First off, an incredible record setting heat wave late summer stressed the vines and pushed up harvest by almost a full month! Secondly, smoked filled skies filled the area for the better part of a week following forest fires in Northern California. Thankfully, we were unaffected by any residual effects from the smoke. Harvest was early, with all of our Cabernet blocks being harvested before October 10th 2020.