Wine Making Process

Wine Type	Fotinos Brothers Cabernet Sauvignon

Concept	An ultra premium wine based on Fotinos Brothers CLV Rutherford vineyard. This wine shows bold fruit intensity,is full bodied and well structured, and capitalizes on the terroir of the Rutherford wine appellation and the tepacity of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Vineyard Management	The vineyards are managed to maximize balance of fruit to canopy with a target crop load of one to two grape clusters per shoot, and maximum shoot length of 16 to 18 leaves. Irrigation is withheld until verasion ( if needed) to encourage proper sizing of the grapes and clusters. De-leafing around the fruiting zone on the morning side of the trellis is done prior to or at verasion.

Proposed Tonnage	6 tons

Harvest Parameters
Container Type	1/2 ton bins
Picking Parameters
Brix	24.5 to 25.5
t.a.	0.60 to 0.75
pH	3.7 to 3.8

Harvest Dates	October 1st to November 1st

Fruit Condition	Ripe well colored fruit without raisoning or mold. Intense dark color with concentrated flavors, lignified stems, and fully mature seeds.

Crushing
Crusher	Delta E-4 with a sorting table
% Whole Berry	Complete maceration of fruit at the crusher
SO2 Additions	50 mg/L as Metabisulfate added( dosed) at the crusher
Additions	DAP, Fermaid and Tartaric acid as needed

Fermentation
Tank/Barrels	Fermented in a 5 ton fermenter
Yeast Type	Cepage Cabernet strain
Fermentation Temperature	Warm to 70F (21C) and allowed to peak at 88F (30C)
Pump-Over Regimen	One volume 3 times daily, with aeration on days one and two
Delestage	Used on day two to increase extraction
Extended Maceration	Determined on a lot by lot basis. Approximately 30-35 days total time determined by taste.
M/L	Mixed Leuconastoc inoculum prepped by the lab and added at pressing.

Pressing
Press Fractions	Determined by taste for extraction level before dryness ( tasted 3 times / day ). Free-run is drained overnight to a holding tank, press wine goes directly to neutral barrels and the pressure at the time of filling is recorded on each barrel. Press barrels are kept separate for future evaluation.

Into Barrels	October 1st to December 1st

Aging
Barrels Type and Age	The wine lots that are predetermined to be reserve, we will use 80% new French oak barrels. This will be a mix between Saury, Taransaud, and LeGrand.
Blending	The blend for the Cabernet will be made after the first racking. At this point a barrel by barrel determination will be made as to the blend contribution.
Racking Regimen	Every 4 months thereafter for 18 to 20 months.

Additions	Metabisulfite, fining agents, etc. will be made as determined by lab analysis and taste.

Out Of Barrels	May-July 20-24 months

Blending	February of the first year ( at the first racking).

Bottling	August of year two
Filtration	Minimal as is needed
Stabilization	Two years of barrel age
Bottle Age	Ten to twelve months before release.

Proposed Release	Spring of the third year.