Savage Grace, Cabernet Franc 2019, Pollard Vineyard, Yakima Valley, WA

This elegant Cabernet Franc is an extremely versatile pairing with food and has floral & red berry notes with a decent minerality and black tea-like tannins.

COUNTRY: United State of America (USA)

STATE: WA

APPELLATION (AVA): Yakima Valley

SUBREGION: Rattlesnake Hills

VINEYARD: Pollard Vineyard

VINTAGE: 2019

GRAPES: Cabernet Franc

SOIL: Sandy loam, limestone subsoil

PRACTICE: Biodynamic, organic, vegan friendly

VINIFICATION: Non-irrigated growing, native yeast fermentation.STYLE: Still

COLOR: Light ruby

BODY: Medium (5-6)

TASTE: Dry

PRIMARY AROMAS: Forest floor, red fruit skin, savory herbs, baking spice

FLAVOR: Cherry plum, cinnamon, mushroom, delicately balanced structure

FORMAT: 750 ml

ALCOHOL: 12.5%

SERVICE AND SUGGESTION: Serve with a wide array of foods such as tomato-based dishes, roasted meats such as lamb chops with cherry glaze, lentils or beans, mushrooms, or pasta with cheese.

ABOUT THE PRODUCER: 
“Savage Grace Wines was established in 2011 by owner-wine-maker Michael Savage, with a vintage of Cabernet Franc. His vision is to make Old World style lower-alcohol, balanced, and expressive wines. He is continuing to deepen his core understanding of all stages in the vinification process, to put his philosophy of low-intervention winemaking into practice, where the grape, vineyard and vintage form a unique balance.

ABOUT THE VINEYARD:
Pollard Vineyard, Located in the upper Yakima Valley of Washington State was planted under the management of Patrick Rawn of Two Mountain Winery.  James A. Stamp, Ph.D. of Sebastopol, California served as a consultant on the project and personally inspected all rootstock before it was shipped to the vineyard.  The combination of this expertise along with the skills of the field crew ensured a high degree of plant health from the onset.

Distinguishing features of the vineyard also include a focus on clonal selection and a denser than average planting.  Pollard vineyard has 2400 plants per acre in contrast to the typical vineyard of 1700 plants.  This experimental planting approach follows the path of the leading fruit orchards in the region that have demonstrated that with cutting-edge techniques one can maximize production on less acreage while maintaining superior fruit quality. 

The 10 acre vineyard is planted on a 20-degree southwest facing slope.  A dense planting scheme was employed (6’ rows by 3’ plant spacing, versus the traditional 8’ x 4’ schematic) in order to maximize land use and achieve water efficiency.

The soil is a mix of sandy loam with a subsoil of limestone.  The vines are trained on unilateral cordons.

A total of 5 acres is planted to Cabernet Franc, French clones 214 and 327.  Three acres are planted in Merlot, Clones 181 and 348 with the balance of 2 acres planted in Cabernet clones 4 and 191.  Drip irrigation fed from a deep well provides the water to the vineyard. 

ABOUT THE LABEL:
“SAVAGE” – echoes the struggle of the grape to withstand the stress of ripening, along with making wine that is true to the grape, site, and vintage.

“GRACE” – also his wife’s name, is symbolizing what he hopes to achieve as the end result a wine that is delicate, balanced, approachable yet expressive.”