2020 Spitfire
Tasting Notes
This Super Tuscan style blend of 60% Sangiovese and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon displays gorgeous aromatics of dried cranberry and sweet cherries with a touch of toasted oak and savory spices. The palate is food-friendly with lush tannins, brisk acidity, and lingering flavors of pomegranate, cherry cola, and smoked cedar. Enjoy now through 2033 with optimal maturity in 2030.
Vineyard Designation
100% estate grown
Vintage Notes
The 2020 vintage will go down as a very memorable year. The growing season was exceptional with a mild winter, warm spring, and moderate summer. Just as we were preparing for an early start to harvest, wildfires in the Northwest created a thick cloud of smoke over Washington State. Taking a cautious approach, we delayed harvest until the smoke cleared and conducted trials to determine the effect of smoke on our grapes. Fortunately, the results showed no sign of smoke taint. Proximity to the source of smoke plays a big factor, and our vineyard was a long distance away. Overall, we have not seen any impact of smoke on the 2020 vintage. Another major event of this vintage was an early frost that occurred the second week of October. Our winemaking team worked tirelessly long hours leading up to the frost. By the time our vineyards had been impacted by the cold spell, our winery was stuffed with fermenting grapes and harvest was 95% complete. All remaining grapes were then hand-harvested and sorted with an optical sorter. Despite the obstacles we encountered, we were able to produce another stunning vintage. The 2020 wines showcase an abundance of ripe fruit aromatics, low tannin profiles, and exceptionally balanced finishes.
Winemaking Notes
Each element of our 2020 Spitfire is sourced from our Estate Vineyard’s reserve tier designated blocks of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon. Each lot was harvested separately at optimal ma- turity, then destemmed but not crushed and sorted using our optical sorter before being pumped into small 2-ton fermenters. Our extraction for the Sangiovese was gentle with punchdowns only 2-3 times per day, with the goal being to maintain the wine’s beautiful red fruit driven flavors. A more aggresive approach was taken with the extraction of the Cabernet Sauvignon early on during fer- mentation before alcohol was prevalent, once alcohol levels increased, we took a gentle approach to not over extract tannins and maintain a lush profile. Both lots were fermented dry on the skins ranging from 14-16 days before being drained pressed and sent to a variety of exclusive French Oak barrels. The wines were inoculated for Malo-Lactic fermentation, once Malo-Lactic Fermenta- tion was completed, each barrel had its lees stirred twice a month for 3-4 months. The lees stirring process helped create a rounder mouthfeel, while enhancing the structure and naturally softening the wine. Each varietal was aged separately for 10 months in various types of French oak before being blended and aged for an additional 8 months in French oak. Total aging in French oak was 18 months with 45% being new French oak, 30% 2yr-old French Oak and 25% neutral oak French Oak.
Food Pairing
Pizza Margherita
Italian Meatballs
Rustic Paella
Pecorino or Burrata
- Varietal Composition: 60% Sangiovese, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Appellation: Yakima Valley
- Cases Produced: 323
- Alcohol: 14.1%
- pH: 3.52
- Acidity: 6.5 g/L
- Ageability: Now through 2033 (Optimal Maturity 2030)