Le Petit Caporal 2020 Magnum
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc from the stellar and award winning Argetsinger and Two Gorges vineyards. A complex and brooding bouquet of supple black and blue fruit, earth, graphite and smoke: intensely aromatic and impeccably balanced.
2020 was an exceptional vintage in the Finger Lakes region both in terms of ripeness levels and absence of disease pressure. The grapes were harvested under ideal conditions. After 4 weeks of skin contact, the components were aged in 80 % French oak and 20 % American oak with a 5 year rotation
( 20 % new oak).
In Stock
Wine Specs
Vintage
2020
Varietal
Meritage Blend
Appellation
Finger Lakes AVA
Alcohol %
12.5
Wine Profile
Vineyard Notes
The Argetsinger Vineyard is located on the Southeast side of Seneca Lake below the village of Burdett. The Cabernet Franc block is on the lowest portion of the vineyard with a higher clay content, which favors this variety. The vines utilize the Verticle Shoot Positioning trellis system.
The Glen Eldridge Vineyard is located below the Argetsinger Vineyard. It is a very steep, terraced vineyard located on what is perhaps the best protected vineyard site in the entire Finger Lakes region.
Production
The grapes were fully destemmed and crushed on their way to the open-top fermenters. After gradually warming for 5-6 days, the fermentation started. The grapes were punched down several times daily with multiple pump-overs primarily during the early and middle parts of the fermentation. After three weeks of skin contact, the fermenters were drained and the skins bucketed out by hand to the press. The free run and gentle press fractions were combined in stainless steel tanks for several days prior to transfer to barrels. The components were aged in 80% French oak and 20% American oak with a five year rotation (20% new oak) until early September. At this time, the components were blended and transferred to neutral oak barrels for an additional six months of barrel aging. The wine saw very loose filtration on its way to the bottling line.