All Cabernet Sauvignon that comes through the door is immediately hand sorted ensuring, from the start, that only the highest quality fruit is used to make wine. It's then destemmed and crushed allowing for improved extraction from what is inherently in the fruit. All of the fruit is then gravity fed into our custom temperature controlled 6.5 ton open top stainless steel tanks and cold soaked at a constant temperature of 40°F for a period ranging two to ten days allowing for complete homogenization, integration and extraction. After determining the end of pre-fermentation maceration temperatures are raised to 65°F in a matter of hours at which time our own proprietary yeast is added. During fermentation the must is gently punched down one to five times a day, using a pneumatic punch down device. The primary fermentation lasts between six to ten days with peak fermentation temperatures ranging from 86°-91°F. All free-run is than drained out from the primary fermenter and the remaining skins are lightly pressed off and kept separate. The wine then settles out for two to five days and racked off of its gross lees into barrels. Laid to rest in our temperature / humidity controlled barrel room this year's Cabernet Sauvignon blend was put into 60% new western and eastern European oak and the balance into one year old barrels. Laid to rest for fifteen months the wines will have completed malolactic fermentation and have been sulfited, they are then blended to tank settled out and bottled on our own bottling line unfined and unfiltered.