Rookie question from someone who knows nothing about wine but really likes to drink it. Years ago I bought a couple cases of Winter 2010 when it was on clearance due to the passing of the winemaker. I love the wine. What style cab is this? Where are the grapes from? What wineries would closely resemble this kind of wine?
Winter is an ultra luxury wine brand in the Napa Valley that creates highly-coveted wine in small quantities. Hand-made using the finest techniques and processes, the wine has been rated as one of the Napa Valley’s top Cabernet Sauvignons. Winter was started in 2004 with the mission of producing handcrafted wine of uncompromising quality and distinction.
Our Winemaker:
Mike Hirby’s career in wine began as a sommelier in Colorado, Springs, CO, at the award-winning restaurant Primitivo. He was Assistant Winemaker at Behrens & Hitchcock Winery from 2000-2002 and left to make wine for Relic and other Napa Valley wineries including Realm Cellars, Rockledge Vineyards, and Sherwin Family Vineyards. Known as one of the Napa Valley winemaking “young guns,” Mike Hirby became the principal winemaker for Winter in 2008.
Our Vineyard:
Our Cabernet Sauvignon estate vineyard is located at the base of Spring Mountain in St. Helena. We combine this fruit with a few other select vineyards based on quality, location, and compatibility.
Our Wines:
Our wine is made in small batch oak fermenters, basket pressed, and aged entirely in new French oak for a minimum of 20-22 months.
Hand sorting and gentle treatment in all processes from fermentation to bottling ensures the wine will reach the bottle as a pristine expression of the fruit and appellation.
I’ve only had the ‘05 Winter, at age 10. I liked it quite a bit, but it was definitely a big, fruit forward, higher octane wine (above 15%, I believe). I’d say Mike Smith’s Myriad Napa cab is a closer approximation than Merrill’s Black Cat.