This wine was created for their Foxen Heritage Collection project that celebrates Foxen co-founders’, Dick Dore and Bill Wathen’s, original 1989 plantings at the historic Rancho Tinaquaic. The Heritage Collection is sourced from Foxen’s old-vines, dry farmed and sustainably grown grapes in our upper Tinaquaic Vineyard and deserves to be celebrated. This selection of wine is not only extremely limited in production, it also highlights the unique taste profiles and complexities that only these old vines can provide.

Appellation: Santa Maria Valley
Vineyard: Tinaquaic
Clone: FPS 04; own-rooted
Harvest: By hand on October 26th
Yield: About 1.6 tons per acre; 2.3 pounds per vine
Crush: Whole-berry destemmed into a small, open-top fermenter
Inoculum: Lallemand CSM after a 3-day cold maceration
Fermentation: 17 days active with pump-overs twice daily
Elevage: 22 months in 225L French oak barrels, 33% new
Racking: Initially in April 2019, then again in January 2020, then lastly prior to bottling in July 2020
Bottling: July 22, 2020 - without fining or filtration
Alcohol: 14.9%
pH: 3.63
TA: 0.62 g/100mL

Sustainable.

"The 2018 Cabernet Franc Tinaquaic Vineyard Old Vines Heritage Club is punchy and spicy. Red cherry jam, tobacco, leather and dried herbs confer a great deal of savory intensity. Varietal and site character meld together in a super-distinctive Franc that has so much to offer. I loved it." - Vinous, 94 Points

"Better, the 2018 Cabernet Franc Tinaquaic Vineyard Heritage Club is all varietal and spent 22 months in 33% new French oak. Medium-bodied, balanced, and elegant on the palate, it has terrific cassis and cherry fruits as well as sappy flower, violets, and herbal notes. The purity of fruit is spot on, and it has the balance and class to evolve for 10-12 years with no issues." - JebDunnuck.com, 94 Points

"This cool-climate franc has gamey, dark berry scents, accented by a whiff of violet pastilles. Despite being plush and extracted, it captures some of cabernet franc’s herbal charm, the feel of Central Coast chaparral in its grippy savor. —P.J.C. (150 cases)" - Wine & Spirits, 91 Points