What a wonderful 2013 vintage. As a producer all you can ask from Mother Nature is avoiding extremes and enough time to get everything accomplished how you want, but more importantly, when you want. 2013 was exactly that. While a warm, dry Spring advanced the season placing the ripenening times in August and September instead of September and October, we avoided dramatic heat spells that often accompany such advanced timing. This allowed all grapes to be harvested at a time that was correct for that variety, ranch and specific block. The vintage is emerging as one with tremendous purity and freshness. Winemaker Notes 2013 may have provided one of the best vintages to date for Star Lane Sauvignon Blanc. With extremely well balanced yields the time to develop great depth of flavor at fresh, balanced textures was second to none. Toward harvest we were blessed with wonderful weather allowing us to segment and optimize each section to the Sauvignon Blanc. To preserve the freshness of the vintage we utilized a champagne style press cycle ensuring purity of the juice, even at the expense of yields. Fermented simply in primarily stainless steel, with a small portion in a 1,200 gallon used oak fermenter. Aging time was increased to allow for full flavor development prior to bottling.
There are very few California Cabernet vineyards with Star Lane Vineyard’s combination of warmth, elevation, and soil type. Vaulted mountain peaks offer respite from cool Santa Barbara County fog, and that warmth with free-draining, rocky soils combine to ensure Cabernet of masculinity and supple balance. Each year, you can expect wines with licorice, black cherry, cassis, spice, and vanilla, flavors paired with efforts of selection and fermentation management intended to highlight site driven qualities like structure and depth. These wines age with grace.
It is exciting when one observes both varietal character and site characteristics at once. Merlot in its pure blackberry and blueberry fruit, there is also some kind of floral, sagely-sweetness we’ve come to expect from Star Lane Vineyard red wines. Very youthful in its flavor expression, the palate’s primary bend is toward freshness, charm, and a subtle depth. Very fine tannins and balanced mouth feel belie the wine’s depth and serious structure. Our belief is this wine will carry itself for some time, rewarding the patient.