2020 E11EVEN PETIT VERDOT

Our Petit Verdot is 100% Estate grown, which lies within the borders of the Santa Ynez Valley AVA and sits at a slightly higher elevation, above the fog layer. The Santa Ynez AVA is a long, east-west corridor with very cool temperatures on the coast that become progressively warmer inland, which allows for a wide variety of grapes and styles to flourish. Petit Verdot one of our favorites to craft each vintage, despite it being misunderstood as a blending grape. While it does improve a variety of blends, we prefer it all by itself. The name Petit Verdot translates to “little green one” due to its tendency ripen late in the season. We love it for its robust tannin structure, dark color and a lush flavor profile and believe it shows a strong enough presence to stand on its own! The 2020 growing season was another long one, largely a function of fine weather—with some wonderful warmth that adds ripeness and richness to this vintage. We are already seeing the benefit of longer hangtime in this wine: mature sweet tannins, outstanding color and brightness, depth of fruit, and beautiful balance. We aged this wine for 20 months in 20% new French Oak as well as an additional 6-month aging in bottle before release.