2019 Clone 6 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

In the 1880s, UC Davis professor Eugene Hilgard planted clone 6, which is also called the Jackson clone, at the university's field station at Jackson in the Sierra Foothills. It was abandoned until the last few decades when it was rediscovered. In 1980, we began a 14-year series of trials in conjunction with UC Davis, to identify Cabernet Sauvignon clones best suited to our Rutherford Bench terroir. Two clones (numbers 4 & 6) were ultimately selected for grafting to rootstocks planted in the well-draining, alluvial fan soils of our estate vineyard. As a component of our Georges de Latour and other reserve Cabernet Sauvignons, Clone 6 has notably small loose clusters and small berries that yield highly concentrated, distinctive flavors structured by muscular tannins. Often referred to as our mountain fruit on the valley floor, this creates a Cabernet that is very concentrated with more structure and tannin.

At our state-of-the-art winery dedicated exclusively to the production of our Reserve wines, we utilized the latest technology to destem and optically- sort the berries to retain only the highest quality fruit. Cold soaking of the must and gentle pump overs gently extracted the flavor-rich skins into the juice. Upon completion of primary fermentation, we pressed the skins and transferred the wine into new French oak barrels for in-barrel malolactic fermentation and aging. Because of the unique and wonderful character of this clonal selection, we treat the wine as a separate lot and bottle a very limited amount.