The Craig

The Devil's In The Detail

At the Craig, we are always seeking ways to improve our winemaking.  As the quality of Robert Craig wines is already at such a high level, it becomes a matter of detail. 

One of those new details is the use of oak upright tanks for our Cabernet Sauvignon fermentations. We’ve recently acquired one 70 HL and two 40 HL French oak tanks. Such tanks are used extensively by first-growth Bordeaux Chateaus and are also found in the cellars of many of Napa Valley’s most prestigious and respected wineries.

  

An important design feature is the truncated or “tilt-in” top portion of the tank. Instead of having a cylinder shape with straight sides, the tank's top is narrower than at the bottom. This feature allows the cap (skins and pulp that rise to the surface during fermentation) to crumble and break up easily when the juice is removed from under the cap during pump-overs. The cap is submerged more quickly with less physical manipulation, resulting in gentler handling of the must.

 

Another key feature is the insulation value of the thick oak staves in maintaining a consistent temperature. The must stays cool, without extensive external cooling, during pre-fermentation maceration when the tannins, colors and flavors begin to be extracted.  As fermentation proceeds, the temperature shift is gradual and the wood maintains an ideally warm temperature all the way into the extended post-fermentation maceration.

This is an added bonus on Howell Mountain as the temperatures can drop quickly after sundown in the late Fall.  Warm temperatures are extremely important for complete extraction of color and flavor from our mountain fruit, resulting in Cabernet Sauvignons with smooth, lush mouth-feel and soft, round, integrated tannins – the hallmarks of a true luxury-quality Cabernet.

The combination of French oak upright tanks and stainless steel tanks will give us more options to achieve an even greater level of depth and complexity in our wines.  The differences may be subtle; however it is at this level of detail where we find opportunities to fine-tune our winemaking regimen as we endeavor to craft the best wine possible with every vintage.

Cheers,

Stephen

Individual expression or "mondovino" wine?

I am fond of the opening scene in the wine documentary MONDOVINO, of a few years back.  An old gentleman is being interviewed in his vineyard in Sardinia.  He looks toward the camera and says something like this. “My name is Giuseppe and this is my vineyard.  This vineyard has been in my family for four generations.  From my vineyards, I make my wine.  Some people think it is too acetic. I don’t”. He is saying that his wines are an individual expression of his vineyards and his personal approach to winemaking. I fully agree with this proposition.  A wine should have a sense of place and person.  It is unique to the growing conditions of a specific location and the stylistic expression of a winemaker. 

When I first got into the wine business some thirty years ago, I headed directly to the mountains of the Napa Valley.  As a consumer, I had developed a love for the intensity, structure  and depth of flavors of Cabernet Sauvignon from these higher reaches of the Valley's great mountain ranges. However at that time, mountain Cabernets had such aggressive tannins that they almost had to carry a consumer warning about all of the bad things that were going to happen to you if you dared to drink the wine before it had aged for 20 years!  

My personal objective has been to infuse mountain Cabs with riper and rounder tannins that integrate with the fruit and provide a smoother texture in the wines.  This allows our Cabs to be enjoyed over their entire life with the sound potential for aging in the 20+ year range. Wines with structure, polish and balance - that has been the "Craig" style, from the beginning of our winemaking in 1992 to today.

Each of our four Cabs from Napa Valley is an individual expression of the soils and micro-climates of the vineyards where the grapes are grown.  The difference in the flavor profile of each wine is quite mind-bending when you consider that the winemaking techniques are the same for all.  

Our goal is to craft Cabernets that are truly unique, rather than attempting to make formulaic wines that some influential critic might like. The "mondovino" vision of a global wine style without personality or distinctiveness will, I trust, never be realized as long as there are individualists making wine their own way and consumers who are open to all the wonderful possibilities.

Enjoy in good health!

Bob Craig