2015 Saxon Brown Grenache ‘El Diablo Vineyard’ Russian River Valley

We picked the El Diablo Grenache under the lights in the middle of the night so that they would arrive at the winery cold and before six in the morning. 80% was de-stemmed and 20% whole cluster went into a small open-top fermenter for a four-day cold soak at 40F.  The must was than allowed to warm and the natural yeast to start the fermentation. At this point we begin pump-overs three times daily.  The wine ferments for 18 days. Once fermentation is complete the wine is pressed to 20% new, 40% once used and 40% neutral French Oak for 18 months of aging. The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered.