The grapes for this wine were selected from some of the most premier Napa Valley vineyards, a mix of valley floor, benchland and hillsides. All grapes were hand harvested, delivered in half-ton picking bins, then hand-sorted, destemmed and partially crushed before being gravity-fed into small open-top fermenters. The cap was alternately punched down and pumped over up to four times daily through fermentation. Once fermentation completed, the free run juice was drained and the must gently pressed in a basket press. The wine was gravity racked into French oak barrels (87% new) for malolactic fermentation and remained in individual barrel lots until the final blend was assembled and aged.