Reserve 2021
Wine
This wine begins with a blueberry note on the nose, quickly followed by black cherries and plums. Hints of black pepper and licorice complement the fruit flavors. Caramel and vanilla combine for a smooth palate and the mellow tannins and acidity add a lingering finish. This young wine should mature 5-15 years.
* 100% Estate Grown Fruit from the Middleburg Virginia AVA
Production
The 2021 vintage at Boxwood yields a chance for another Reserve blend, following the stellar harvest of 2020. Individual barrels from several different lots and clones of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot were selected for this wine as a result of vigorous tasting and blending trials. The original winemaking protocol used for the wines mirrored all of our red wines lots:
Hand harvested and triple sorted (in the vineyard, before and then after destemming), the fruit, consisting of mostly whole berries, was gravity fed into stainless steel fermenters. Approximately, 20% of the juice was bled from the tanks after 24-48 hours to help concentrate the juice for the red fermentations. This juice was then used for rosé. Fermentations were conducted separately by variety and clone. Pump overs and manual punch downs were done daily to continually mix the skins and the fermenting juice to achieve maximum extraction of color, aroma, and flavor compounds found in the grapes.
Fermentations lasted 8 to 10 days, then the young wine sat on skins for another 7-14 days for post-fermentation maceration before pressing. Young wines were then drained into French oak barrels for maturation. Malolactic fermentation occurred in barrel, and the wines were aged in the oak for 12-15 months before trials to determine the final blends.
