Technical Information:

Harvest date:  October 1st, 2018
Fruit source:  West 114 (1996) and West 115 (1994)
Grapes at harvest: Brix: 23.6, pH: 3.1, TA: 7.6 g/L
Finished wine: Alcohol 13.6 %,  pH: 3.44, TA: 6.3 g/L
Barrel aged 15 months in French oak, 40% new barrels
106 cases bottle unfined on February 10th, 2020

Vinification: 

The two blocks that make up this wine were co-fermented in a 3-ton open top stainless-steel fermenter.  After a 3-day cold soak, fermentation began and the wines were pumped over once a day to minimize extraction in a warm vintage from blocks with enormous phenolic potential. After 13 days, the new wines were pressed at dryness, settled for 7 days, and racked into oak barrels for a 15-month elevage.

Winemaker Notes:

The Currents came together with relative ease in 2018, simply because the sections of the vineyard that comprise it, leaned into all the things 2018 brought to the table; ripe fruit flavors with blistering acidity and structure. This is typically the most muscular and taut of the Beyond the Blocks wines, and 2018 is no exception. Flavors of blueberry and pomegranate, over a rippling core of acidity and framing tannins are intriguing now but will take some patience to fully integrate. As stated with the others, some cellaring will be in order for the wines to reach their full potential.

Fact Sheet