2019 Electrum
The namesake wine needs no introduction. It is the foundation Cabernet that Obelisco started with.
2019 Obelisco Estate Electrum
Blend: 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 3% Malbec
AVA: Red Mountain
Vineyards: 100% Obelisco Estate
Barrels: 40% new oak; 100% French
Tasting Notes: Dark purple, magenta inky color. Like years past, the nose starts with blueberries, but with a bit of bright cranberry like aroma, with vanilla bean and and mellow tea spice. The wine starts on the palate with the familiar silkiness with wild berry fruit slightly brighter than the nose. It quickly settles to the darker fruit of blueberry with hints of other dark berries like boysenberry all while being tempered by a balanced spice dominated by vanilla. This continues through the mid-palate and into the tail. On the tail, your taste buds are left with the impression of fresh berries, vanilla, and basil
Cellaring: Because it is made from Red Mountain grapes this wine should age well for the next 15 to 18 years. Because it is Obelisco fruit, it is soft and inviting now for wine that is 84% Cabernet.
Production: All the fruit for this wine is from Obelisco Vineyard. The high density planting yields smaller berries, which contribute to the concentrated flavors, yet the fruit from this vineyard always makes wines with luxurious tannins and mouth feel. Combine this with 22 months in 40% new oak and you get a wine that invitingly combines great fruit and oak.
Harvest notes: 2019 was another hot year in the vineyard, but the early set of the vines led to an easy and good yield. Rather than worrying about yield like some years, we actually, trimmed back some of the fruit on the vineyard to make sure concentrations were good. The sugars and flavors seemed to develop at an even rate making the picking decisions easier for our team. There was enough coolness in the evenings of the Fall to give us some extra hang time without the chemistry changing too much. We were also able to avoid some of the smoke that some got from the wildfires that had been so rampant that time of the year.
