Vineyard Notes

The Annapolis vineyard is planted on a 30 degree slope in Goldridge fine sand loam soil. The ranch is extremely isolated and requires a lot of handwork to farm. Blocks 10, 12 and 14, were farmed for L’Usine using clones 777 and 828. All grapes were hand harvested with yields at lower than 2 tons per acre.

Winery Notes

After hand-harvesting the grapes were 100% destemmed and cold soaked for 4-5 days. All picks and lots were kept separate. The grapes spent 14-20 days on their skins with gentle punch downs 3-4 times a day. The wine was gravity racked to barrel and sat on the lees without stirring. Aged 9 months in French oak of which 70% was new.

Tasting Notes

Clearly the darkest of the three wines, the 2018 Annapolis Ridge Vineyard shows a dark garnet core with a neon cardinal rim. Aromatically, the wine offers notes of clove, cola and sweet black cherry. On the palate, prominent acidity takes over and assists by throwing wild blueberry, olallieberry and freshly picked tarragon across the tongue. The finish is framed by an intriguing texture of soft velvet and dust paired with crisp acidity indicative of its ageing potential.