2004 Vintage
The 2004 growing season gave us consistent daily temperatures with highs on the south-eastern slopes of the Ink Grade Vineyard reaching 100 degrees. Our respite from these baumy days was the cool evening fog from the Pacific Ocean. As the heat dwindled into evening, it would draw a thick carpet of 55 degree fog over the top of Howell Mountain. Such a growing season enhances the flavors of berry in the grapes while perserving the natural acidity, color and structure of the wine that will be made. These extremes are rare and coupled with the unusual volcanic “Tuff” soils, the Ink Grade Vineyard is a vineyard of Grand Crus status in the Napa Valley. In this caliber of vineyard, our meager yield of 2.6 tons of fruit per acre is the norm. From these exceptional grapes, we coaxed 550 cases of wine.