Hilltop

We witnessed a rare fourth consecutive year of low rainfall in the Paso Robles growing region and throughout California in 2015. Budbreak was early, as is typical in dry years, with vines coming out of dormancy in mid-March. Good growing conditions in April were followed by an unusually cold period in early May that disrupted bloom. As a result, the Cabernet Sauvignon crop was roughly half of normal due to shatter, with each cluster bearing just half the typical number of berries. The small crop ripened readily as fall approached, with this early harvest beginning in earnest on September 15th. Young wines showed explosive fruit and concentration immediately and our enthusiasm for the vintage continued as we assembled the blends prior to barrel aging. We appreciate the integration of ripe flavor and mature texture that is the result of the traditional Bordeaux winegrowing techniques used at J. Lohr.