2008 IX Estate

Winemaker Allison Tauziet describes the Colgin 2008s as "concentrated, refined wines that started out very firmly structured. During elevage, we had to build their middle palates. Now they are gaining weight in bottle." In contrast, she went on, the 2009s "were voluptuous from the beginning. Their tannins are easier and they will be approachable early." Limited rackings are done here, and Tauziet told me that the 2009s gained in richness and sweetness from lees contact, as most of the vintage wasn't racked until more than a year after the harvest (the 2008s were racked just twice prior to being bottled in July of 2010). The 2009 harvest was spread out over a full month, from the second week of September through the second week of October, she went on, while the 2008 harvest was over by the end of September. One of the keys to preserving quality in 2008, she said, was to declassify a lot of the early-picked merlot that was affected by heat spikes in late August and early September.

The small size of the 2008 crop was due to drought rather than frost, noted winemaker Allison Tauziet, adding, "I see vintages in terms of water, not temperature." The grapes were small and concentrated, with fewer clusters. And yet pHs here are not as exaggerated as they were as recently as the early 2000s, thanks in large part to a project to reposition shoots to allow for a wider canopy, which in turn enables more indirect sunlight on the grapes. This was one of the most impressive visits of my tour, and a good example of cabernet-based wines that can carry off alcohol levels in the mid-15s with reasonable grace.