2006 Reserve Tapestry

Beginning with the 2008 vintage, this historic estate has converted an old barrel storage area into a new facility for making its flagship Georges de Latour Private Reserve cabernet. "We've gotten the wine away from any past TCA problems," said winemaker Jeffrey Stambor, who has been in charge here since 1989. The fruit is picked in the cool of night, sorted in the vineyard, brought in in 35-pound "field lugs," and put through a destemmer before it's sorted again on an 18-foot conveyor belt. Stambor carries out a five-day cold soak and is now fermenting at slightly cooler temperatures than previously. He explains: "We used to have to extract everything up front, but now we have the advantage of barrel-fermenting up to 40% of the cabernet must." A system of rails is set up to roll the barrels during the fermentation.