The Vineyard Meaning “century” in Italian, Secolo is a Bordeaux-style blended red wine. This wine showcases some of the best vineyard lots for Bordeaux varietals in Sonoma County. Each year, the blend and vineyard composition changes in order to achieve the style for which this wine has become known: aromatic, ripe and rich yet elegant. 2005 was a cooler, longer vintage for Sonoma County, allowing lots of hang time for the grapes. We blended Cabernet Sauvignon from the “banana belt” vineyard sites (Harp in Sonoma Valley, Lyon Vineyard in Alexander Valley) in order to achieve full ripeness in a cooler vintage. Merlot was mainly from Alexander Valley, which is a very important ingredient to use in cooler vintages, as is the case in the Medoc. The Malbec and Petite Verdot were from both Valleys and were also essential for the final blend.
The Vintage
The 2005 vintage got off to a late start with later bud break for Red Bordeaux varieties. However, spring temperatures were normal, allowing a good fruit set. Summer was mild to moderate without any heat waves. August was foggy and cool, setting the stage for larger cluster development. By the time harvest started, facing high yields, we crop thinned the Cabernet and Merlot in the Lyon vineyard. Indian Summer kicked in mid October, and we were able to pick ripe, Alexander Valley Merlot starting October 21st, followed by Petite Verdot and Malbec. Cabernet Sauvignon didn’t commence until the last week in October at Harp, finishing out with the Lyon vineyard through November 8 th . We were also fortunate to have few rains, the extra hang time giving us more depth and ripeness than is typical of the vintage. Because of the cooler, longer vintage, the wine is darker in color, with haunting, complex aromatics more akin to a great Medoc.
Winemaking
All lots were crushed and de-stemmed and underwent a warm, brisk fermentation to aid in color and flavor extraction. We only used the free run portions of the Cabernet, and it was pressed off at approximately 5 brix to manage the extremely high tannin levels. The lots were racked into mainly new and one-year-old French Oak barrels. Initial assemblage occurred the following Spring with the final assemblage occurring in late Summer. It was bottled in June of 2006.
Winemaker’s Notes
All lots were crushed and de-stemmed. However, we did more cold soaking with some pectic enzymes to liberate more color early on. Generally, cooler vintages for Bordeaux varieties need more coaxing out of color with this treatment and warmer fermentation temperatures, which was our critical vintage adjustment. The lots were then racked into mainly new and one-year-old French and Hungarian Oak barrels. A protein fining was done on the tannic lots in January thru March in order to selectively remove tannin and not color, nor aromatics. Initial assemblage occurred the following Spring with the final assemblage occurring in late Summer, 2006, as is classically done in the Medoc . After aging in barrels for 14 months, it was bottled in August of 2007.
Mark R. Lyon, Winemaker
Technical Data
Appellation:
Sonoma County
Composition:
75% Cabernet Sauvignon; 18% Merlot; 4% Petite Verdot; 3% Malbec
Cooperage:
40% new French Oak, 20% new Hungarian Oak 40% 1 yr old French, Hungarian, & American Oak
Alcohol:
14.3% by volume
TA:
0.56
g/100ml
pH:
3.69
Bottling Date:
August 2007
Release Dates:
November 2007
Past Vintages:
Awards and Acclaim:
2005 Vintage:
5 Stars & GREAT VALUE from Restaurant Wine: "A full bodied, toasty blend, with moderately rich fruitiness, good balance and a very long finish, tasting of blackberry, roasted nut, toast, cocoa, and black currant. Great Value!"
88 Points & ONE PUFF from Connoisseurs Guide to California Wines: "Over the last several vintages, Sebastiani's Secolo has rated among the better Cabernet buys to be had. In this outing, however, it stints slightly on richness, and, while it leads with a nice mix of oak and sweet fruit, it tightens a bit and lets a hint of greenness into the finish."
2004 Vintage
93 Points from Wine Enthusiast : "Sebastiani scores bigtime with this lush, opulent Cabernet-basted blend. It’s a joy to drink, offering intensely raipe cherry ie, blackberry, blueberry, orange marmalade, cola, mocha and spice flavors. It feels so smooth in the mouth, with a gorgeous balance of natural and oak-inspired tannins. This is really a special wine, but it is for early consumption. Editor's Choice. #30 of Top 100 Wines of 2007! "
5 Stars from Santa Rosa Press Democrat: "A big spicy, full-throttle red produced by Sebastiani. Notes of black plum, toast and white pepper. Integrated tannins. Extremely well crafted."
92 Points from Connoisseurs Guide to California Wines: "Sebastiani's Secolo bottlings have lately been among our top picks when it comes to out and out value, and this latest lovely again stands with the best Cabernet buys to be had. Its deep aromas of currants, berries and cherries are sweetened with carefully placed oak, and its generously filled, ripe-fruit flavors show both layering and a good sense of polish. Its fine-grained tannins firm with out toughening, and while it is bound to tempt early drinking, it is sure to develop beautifully over the next five or six years. GOOD VALUE."
