Morlet Family Vineyards Coeur De Vallee Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 75% Cabernet Sauvignon & 25% Cabernet Franc.
Propietary Name Cœur de Vallée
Name Meaning Heart of the Valley
Type of wine Vineyard designated
Appellation Oakville, Napa Valley
Vineyard singularity Morlet Family ‘Cœur de Vallée’ Vineyard Bale soils, loamy topsoil on loamy & clay-loamy subsoils
Typical harvest date October Picking Manual, small lugs, refer truck
Sorting Cluster by cluster, berry per berry Fermentation Through native yeast. Punch downs Tank and Puncheons
Upbringing 16 months French oak from artisan coopers Bottling Unfiltered
Cellaring time 10+ years Serving Room temperature Decanting recommended
Winemaker notes:
Located in the world-renowned Oakville appellation, in the heart of the Napa Valley, our Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc vines benefit from the gravelly and loamy Bale soil derived from an alluvial fan in this warm yet temperate climate. Handcrafted using classical winemaking techniques, this wine is dedicated to Dr. Richard Johnson and Dr. Nancy Hampel who have always demonstrated their kindness of heart. It is ‘Heart of the Valley’ or ‘Cœur de Vallée.’
Deep garnet-purple in color, the ‘Cœur de Vallée’ is characterized by a striking bouquet of lavender and violets over a core of sweet red berries, crème de cassis, Chambord liqueur, blackcurrants and licorice, and compelling notes of mocha, espresso, chocolate and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied with an impressive fine-grained texture, this powerful yet refined Cabernet Sauvignon is expressive from start to finish, boasting a background freshness that supports the intense black fruit layers. The wine displays an extraordinary concentration, richness, finesse and purity while possessing silky and polished tannins leading to an elegant lift on the long, lush finish. Featuring the interaction of the clayish yet well-draining gravelly volcanic soil, the site’s microclimates and the low-interventionistic Morlet winemaking approach, the stunning ‘Cœur de Vallée’ ages gracefully for decades.
Review:
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Coeur de Vallée comes all from Beckstoffer’s portion of the To Kalon Vineyard and it’s a thrill a minute, offering awesome notes of blue fruits, chocolate, incense, candied violets, and high-class cigar tobacco. As seamless and elegant as they come, yet also opulent and sexy, this remarkable Cabernet Sauvignon could come from nowhere else in the world. Drink it over the coming 2-3 decades.
-Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points
This is the last vintage when this wine will come exclusively from Beckstoffer’s To Kalon vineyard. In the future it will come (more and more) from Morlet’s own new vineyard in Oakville—just across from To Kalon. A blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Cabernet Franc, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Coeur de Vallee has a very deep purple-black color and reveals compelling notes of minted blackcurrants, black cherries and wild blueberries with touches of sage, cigar box, tilled black soil and Indian spices with a suggestion of cardamom. Full-bodied and laden with densely packed, muscular fruit, it has a rock-solid frame of ripe, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long with those To Kalon spices lingering with fantastic persistence. 250 cases produced, to be released in the fall of 2019.
-Wine Advocate 97 Points
Deep red with a slight purple hue on release. The wine has a rich mix of dark chocolate infused with coffee bean and black liquorice, then scents of tar, aniseed, raw (pure) soy and black olive on the nose. The palate is expansive, and yet balanced and finessed. An amalgam of dark berried flavors and textural sensations. The 100% new oak is completely absorbed, meshed with ripe tannins, completing a palate of impressive length and youthfulness.
Slowly the tide turned, Australians began drinking more wine and Dad with his uncanny ability to select and plant Clifton Park with the grape varieties of the future, saw fortunes change for Clifton Park and the Thorn family. I loved my Dad's wry sense of humor and his work ethic was an inspiration to us all.
"My father, Ron, was born in 1923 at the Angaston Hospital not far from where the Thorn-Clarke Winery is currently located. He was the fourth born of the nine children my grandparents raised at Clifton Park in the Eden Valley Ranges. Dad's great-grandparents took up farming land in the Barossa in the 1840's and purchased Clifton Park, where Dad grew up, in the 1870's. To this day, Clifton Park remains in the Thorn family and the 1870's vineyard still produces quality fruit.
As the family grew, Dad showed tenacity and judgment by pulling out orchards and extending the family vineyards. During the 1950's, 60's, and 70's, times were testing for a family business based on dry land horticulture and mixed farming. Dad's strong work ethic proved an invaluable asset during the tough years on the farm and he traveled widely as a shearer, drove bulldozers and worked at the local cement works to support his family.
Ron Thorn Shiraz is made from the best fruit that we grow and is produced only in exceptional years. This wine is given the benefit of 20 months barrel maturation and 12 months in bottle prior to release. This is our tribute to Dad's life and his contribution to the Thorn-Clarke story." - Cheryl Thorn Clarke
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