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Winemaker's Tasting Notes

Deep blackberry, cedar, tobacco and hints of tar in the aromas. The texture is quite rich with fine tannins that last quite long into the finish. The complex flavors include blackberry, strawberry jam, cassis and hints of tobacco and dark chocolate. Long, smooth finish and quite suitable for ageing.

The Vintage
The 2002 vintage was a bit of a wild ride with an record-setting heat wave, a very cool early fall and then another heat wave with Mistral-type north winds and low humidity. For some of the later harvested vineyards there were some serious crop losses due to the fruit desiccating on the vine. Fortunately, for the Domaine Georg Rafael vineyard, the fruit was ready to harvest earlier and was in excellent condition.

Vineyard
The vineyard for Domaine Georg Rafael is located just northwest of the town of Napa on the fringe of the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley. Viticulturally, it more resembles a Mount Veeder appellation with it’s steep slopes and southwestern exposure. The hillside location starts at 100 foot elevation and rises dramatically to about 400 feet at the top. The lower section is planted with Chardonnay and the upper to Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The soils are primarily silty loam. The grapes from the 2002 Rafael Cabernet come from a long ridgeline near the top of the site.

Vinification
Two-thirds of the grapes were crushed to a tank and fermented on the skins with wild yeast for 16 days. The cap was gently pumped over with a "sprinkler" twice a day. The other third was fermented in open fermenters and punched-down twice a day. The wines were pressed off and then put in French oak barrels, 30% new, and aged for 22 months before bottling unfined and unfiltered.

Technical Information
Grapes harvested: October September 24, 2002.
Sugar at harvest: 25.5 degrees Brix
TA (Titrateable Acidity): ): 5.8 g/l
pH: 3.64
Alcohol: 14.5%
Cases produced: 660