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Altitude Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Series
This limited edition "mini-series" marks Barkan Winery's first release of wines designed to express Terroir. Barkan has always produced its best Cabernet individually; Each Vineyard parcel being harvested and fermented separately, aged separately in the barrel and only after reaching maturity would individual lots be blended together to create the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. This represented our philosophy of creating the most complex, harmonious wine possible - greater than the sum of its parts.
The Altitude Series represents a departure from this philosophy. The three Cabernet Sauvignon wines represent three individual, exciting expressions of the experience that is Cabernet Sauvignon. Each wine is unique within itself; from the same vintage, but each expressing individual vineyards, which differ chiefly between themselves by their altitude. The production of each of these wines was very similar. Each was fermented at about 30 degrees and being left with the skins for three to four weeks after dryness. The three wines experienced similar aging, largely in new French oak barrels for a relatively short fifteen months in order to preserve the fruit character of each vineyard and not blur it under a mask of oak.
A tasting of the three wines together will inevitably provoke a lively debate on how the altitude, micro-climate and other factors can so profoundly influence a wine's character. Such a tasting can widen horizons in understanding what makes great wines; while each wine will offer a deeply satisfying experience in and of itself.
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