2017 LMV Salon

One of the most thoughtful and engaging winemakers of his generation, Dan Petroski continues to do brilliant work at Larkmead. Petroski told me the 2017s were marked by small berries and high extractability, which led him to shorten macerations in order to not over-extract. In 2018, the inverse was true. The wines extracted slowly, and therefore required more time on the skins. In tasting, the 2017s have developed pretty much as I had expected they would. I find more delineation and site character in the 2018s, but both vintages are hugely appealing.

Winemaker Dan Petroski turned out an absolutely stellar set of wines at Larkmead in both 2016 and 2017. The bottled 2016s capture every bit of potential I sensed in these wines when they were in barrel. Conditions in 2017 were far more challenging than they were in 2016. Yields are down a whopping 43% across the board, much of that caused by heat spikes in both June and July. Petroski added that cluster weights and berry sizes were both on the small side, and that sugars struggled to climb during the final phase of ripening because of the accumulated stress in the vines. Remarkably, the 2017s offer quite a bit of potential just the same. As a reminder, the LMV Salon is the Cabernet Franc-based wine, while Firebelle is built on a core of Merlot. The Dr. Olmo, Solari and The Lark Cabernets emerge from specific portions of the vineyard that have been defined according to soil type.