Our Wines

Heron Wines

Cabernet Sauvignon, Mendocino County

VINEYARD: Mendocino County

Mendocino is universally recognized as the Mecca of organic grape growing in California and where residents voted in 2004 to become a GMO-free county. The majority of the grapes for our Cabernet Sauvignon come from a 1,300 ft vineyard in the upper reaches of the Yokayo benchland. This benchland is excellent for growing Cabernet for its warm days and chilly nights, deep loamy well drained soil and sees no fog during the growing season. Compared to adjacent Napa and Sonoma Counties, the temperatures are cooler, creating a longer growing season, longer hang time and very concentrated berries. As global climate change affects temperatures, we continue to invest ourselves in elevated cool-climate vineyards like this one to be able to produce lower alcohol wines.

VINEYARD AND CANOPY MANAGEMENT: Leaf removal after bunch closure to promote ripening.

VINE AGE: Average vine age 14 years

YIELDS/ACRE: 3.7 tons per acre

VINE TRELLISING SYSTEM: Double Cordon

WEATHER PECULIARITIES: Unusually cool growing season which required a fruit drop in late July to encourage ripening. Vineyard management did not leaf too heavily in 2010, allowing for just enough filtered light to reach the fruit. (There were heat spikes in September that shriveled many vineyards which were too heavily leafed.)

Alcohol: 13.0% – refreshingly balanced in today’s world of high-alcohol wines.

TA: 0.59 pH: 3.71

WINEMAKING DETAILS: A pre-fermentation cold-soak at 50° initiates rich fruit and color extraction; followed by closed stainless steel fermentation, minimizing oxygen exposure and emphasizing fruitiness. 35% of the wine is drawn off to finish fermentation in oak to enrich the mouth-feel and gain greater fruit/oak cohesion. The wine is aged for about another nine months in new, one and two year old French oak barrels with medium-toast.

WINEMAKER’S COMMENTS: Thanks to optimal growing conditions this textbook Cabernet Sauvignon has a moderate alcohol of just 13%. A small amount of Cabernet Franc and Malbec add complexity. The result? A delicious wine with plenty of blackberry and red current flavors, deep color and moderate to firm tannins.

ABOUT LAELY HERON & HERON WINES: An unconventional childhood – living in mining towns on four continents – fostered Laely’s love of travel, adventure and a desire to explore and to experience the cultures, foods and wines of the world. Wanderlust and curiosity have led her on many paths including studying winemaking in Bordeaux, opening a restaurant and importing wine in Denmark, and pursuing Master of Wine studies. With this love of wine and an entrepreneurial spirit, she started Heron Wines in 1994 with little more than a credit card, a “business plan” sketched out on a napkin, and an idea to make great and affordable wine. When she started Heron Wines, it was unusual for an American woman to be making her own wine in France. Now Heron Wines is making wine in three countries. From the beginning, the goal has been simple: for each wine, find the best vineyards and the best regions wherever in the world they may be. Even today, Laely continues her global exploration to make distinctive and delicious wines from the best places on earth.

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