Cliff Lede Vineyards Rhythm Cabernet Sauvignon 2022

95 Points - Wine Enthusiast

Notes from the Winemaker

Cliff Lede Vineyards is a family-owned and operated winery located in the famed Stags Leap District. For over 20 years, Cliff Lede Vineyards has prioritized crafting wines of extraordinary quality with authenticity and sustainability in mind. 
Vintage  
Warm temperatures in February and March jumpstarted an early 2022 growing season. Early budbreak often comes with the vulnerability to frost, but luckily our vines suffered no damage during the cool spring nights. Early irrigations were necessary to set up healthy canopies and the vines set an average crop after an uneventful bloom period. The uniform and even clusters needed little thinning, and attention was paid to sculpting the shoots and laterals to ensure adequate shading and airflow throughout the fruiting positions. 
Late August was hot, and September was forecasted to be even hotter, so we began picking in rapid succession before the heat to preserve the fresh acidities and delicate aromatics already present in the grapes.  
Vineyards 
The Rhythm Vineyard is located on the subtle slopes of our Stags Leap District estate. Defined by two large hills at its southern border, this vineyard surrounds our winery and reaches west toward the Napa River. The Rhythm Vineyard’s soil is composed of gravelly loam of varying depths and rock content. The incredibly diverse soil profile enables us to farm several small blocks of Cabernet Sauvignon and additional Bordeaux varieties with unique combinations of clonal selections and rootstocks.  
Winemaking  
In the cool darkness of night, grapes were hand-picked into small twenty-five pound bins to minimize crushing. By early morning, the grapes were subjected to rigorous selection by our three-tiered sorting process which includes our cutting-edge optical sorter, and a slow, individual berry hand sort. The fruit was gently gravity delivered to small tanks by our unique crane system which kept the berries intact. Cold soaks lasted from five 
to eight days, and fermentations were managed through a combination of pump overs and délestage. Extended maceration of up to six weeks ensured exceptional extraction and fine-tuning of tannin profiles. This wine underwent twenty-one months of élevage in French oak barrels, 86% of which were new. 
Winemaker Notes 
The triumphal 2022 Rhythm exudes class and sophistication right out of the glass, flaunting its Stags Leap District breeding and balanced perfection with confidence. There are gorgeous black currants, kirsch, pain grille, cigar wrapper, and pencil shavings on the nose, with loamy rocky aromas intertwined with sandalwood and mint. Fresh and balanced with no heaviness, the chocolatey and cassis flavors linger with a fine density along the medium-long finish.  – Christopher Tynan, Director of Winemaking 

85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Petit Verdot, 2% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc