As always, the Schoolhouse label represents quality wines sourced from our home properties and contracted Westside Paso Robles vineyards that offer near term drinkability and a modest price point. This 2006 Vintage exceeded the norm in utilizing a majority of Estate fruit. Some 54% of the grapes are from Adelaida's sites, specifically 47% from the esteemed Viking Vineyard (which includes a nuancing 2% of Viking Cabernet Franc) and 7% from our 39 year old HMR vines. This weighting toward our distinctive mountain vineyards contributes a fine core of elegant fruitiness to the finished wine and raises the bar for the category.
Picked late in the season, into November, the ripe fruit was destemmed, allowed a short temperate soak and fermented with indigenous yeast in open top stainless steel vats, with daily manual punch downs of the skins and pulp. All lots were kept separate and matured in mostly neutral French oak (10% new) to accent the fruit forward character of the ultimate blend.
Held an additional eight months in bottle before release, the wine immediately reveals its juicy round texture with notes of sweet baking spice and a rewarding finish of blackcurrants and subtle minerality. This Schoolhouse deserves a post graduate degree. It is ready for current enjoyment and will continue to mature for up to 3 additional years of cellaring, but why wait?.