2007
Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red
The 2007 Proprietary Red is at once restrained yet complex. Composed and intensely focused, it exhibits layer after layer of blackberry, cassis, anise, sweet cocoa, black cherry, blackberry preserves, extract, tar and cola. On the palate it is dense and concentrated with great weight and structure. Each layer lingers on and on. This wine is exceptional now and will only open further with time.
— Erin Green, Winemaker, October 2010
85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot, 1% Malbec
- Winemaker
- Erin Green
- Alcohol
- 15.2%
- Harvested Start Date
- September 6, 2007
- Harvested End Date
- October 15, 2007
- Bottled Date
- April 21, 2009
- Release Date
- September 1, 2009
Winemaking Notes
The grape clusters were hand-sorted, and once de-stemmed, the berries were sorted again by hand on the way to tank. After four to five days of pre-fermentation cold maceration in small open-top fermentors, the fruit began 100% native yeast fermentation. Two to three weeks later, the fruit was gently pressed and moved to barrel where it finished primary and secondary fermentations. The wine continued to age in 79% new French oak – a combination of Taransaud and St. Martin barrels – for eighteen months. It was bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Sensational… There is no doubting its extraordinary bouquet of subtle smoked meats, oak, mountain wild flowers, blueberries, blackberries, coffee, and cassis. Super-rich and full-bodied with noticeable, but stunningly sweet tannins, it possesses a rare minerality and definition, characteristics that seem to be found across the board in Napa’s 2007s. This dense, powerful red needs 3-5 years of cellaring, and should have 25 years of life ahead of it.
Full ruby-red. Slightly syrupy dark fruit aromas complicated by truffle and earth, with an element of minerality providing lift. Then surprisingly ripe and lively in the mouth, with very intense, rich black fruit, licorice and mint flavors. Offers a lovely combination of sweetness and lift and a real impression of small-berry concentration.
A rich, explosive style, packed with layers of currant, blackberry, wild berry and black cherry fruit woven together in a tight way. Full-bodied, turning supple and polished on the finish, where the fine-grained tannins are ripe and let the fruit flavors flow freely.
