Italics Winegrowers have earned third position at the Premiere Napa Valley trade event by using the science of phenols wine making.
Italics Winegrowers announced today their 2014 Numbers Cabernet Sauvignon barrel lot sold in a three-way tie of $130,000 at this year's Premiere Napa Valley wine auction.
The renowned wine trade event brings attention to Napa Valley's top winemakers with one-of-a-kind, ultra-boutique wines under the label Premiere Napa Valley.
The five case lot was part of a three-way tie for first out of 226 barrel lots and was won by Cliffewood Wine Syndicate from Little Rock, Arkansas.
The other top lots were Nine Suns and Memento Mori.
Italics Winegrowers winemaker and partner, Steve Reynolds said: "Each year, Premiere Napa Valley winemakers are tasked with creating innovative, show-stopping wines that demonstrate Napa Valley's commitment to the art of fine winemaking."
"Today, we surpassed that expectation delivering a wine that scientifically proves how phenols positively affect the structure of the wine."
Through the study of phenols, the wine is broken down into its key chemical components to determine the optimal levels of extraction while the grape skins are in contact with the freshly pressed grape juice.
This process determines a wine's color, flavor and texture. The variations in the phenol levels come from the terrior and something that is inherently natural in vineyard and in the fruit. The science of phenols is used as a predictor of wine quality.
Named for the concentration of phenolics that have been tested in the wine, Italics Winegrowers' barrel lot "Numbers" represents the highest recorded phenolic reading to date at 4,600 iron-reactive phenolics (IRP) in parts per million (ppm).
This high reading translates to a more complex wine featuring higher quality attributes including taste, mouthfeel and body. The single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon hails from the Italics Winegrowers estate vineyard in Coombsville in Napa.
