CASK RESERVE Late Release Port, Batch 10

A blend of several vintages of petit verdot and petite sirah ports. Garnet in color, with a touch of candied orange on the nose. It has flavors of marzipan, berry jam, and black currant. The lingering, silky finish has hints of baking spice.

Every year, we release a new batch of Cask Reserve. The entire team is involved in putting this blend together and it is always a fun time as we taste through sample after sample. We collaborate after taking notes to determine which ports might taste good together. We then put trial blends together to determine the final blend. This process can take a week or longer. We hope you enjoy this port as much as we enjoyed creating it for you.

After we bottle, we hold back barrels of petit verdot and petite sirah ports and continue to age them in the barrel specifically for this unique port and our Maduro reserve tawny port. The additional barrel aging concentrates the flavors and adds viscosity to the port. This aging process also changes the color of the port from dark purple and red colors to more garnet and amber colors. The flavor profile will shift from fruity to nutty, toffee, and citrus notes.

We like to refer to this wine as a ‘tweener’, meaning it is in-between the vintage port and tawny port style. It is not quite a tawny, as the color is still garnet and not quite as amber as a true tawny. The flavors still have some fruity character even though hints of orange and slightly nutty flavors show through.

The ports used in this batch are 2013 and 2014 petit verdot and 2009 and 2011 petite sirah.

375ml

Price: $44

The Details:
Alcohol: 20%
Residual sugar: 9%
Varietal: Petit Verdot and Petite Sirah port
Appellation: Clarksburg
Barrel aging: 7 – 11 years
Fortifying spirit: Aged in a unique oak solera system for an average age of 4 years.
Bottling date: March 2022
Case production: 138 cases