Skipstone Faultline Vineyard Red Blend 2022 - 750ml

94pts Jeb Dunnuck

The 2022 Faultline Vineyard is a blend of Cabernet Franc with the addition of 37% Merlot and is more reserved on opening, slowly revealing notes of baked red plum, leather, pipe tobacco, and forest earth. The palate is full-bodied, with ripe tannins, a gravelly texture, and its more savory mineral, black olive, and tea leaf accents lasting on the finish. Drink 2025-2037.

Vintage Notes

Sonoma’s 2022 vintage offered attractive, powerful wines that are immensely giving and accessible in their youth, with concentrated fruit and supple, well-integrated tannins to provide the backbone to support further evolution in the bottle over time.

Late 2021 rains set the stage for a strong growing season by replenishing soil moisture from the preceding dry years. An early budbreak and moderate spring resulted in naturally small and concentrated berries. The gentle slopes and steep hillsides of Skipstone’s estate vineyard moderated summer temperatures and stabilized ripening, easing the vines to perfectly balanced sugar and tannin levels at harvest. Meticulous attention to detail and traditional winemaking methods were used to craft wines that are a true expression of our distinct vineyard site.

The resulting wines are dynamic, deeply aromatic, and have the structure and concentration to age well for years to come. Winemaking regime Skipstone hand-sorted then precision optical sorted berry by berry the grapes from our estate. Each of the 3 lots that comprised the final blend of this wine were fermented and left on the skins for an average of 23 days prior to pressing. The wine was aged for 19 months in 70% new French oak barrels prior to being bottled unfined and unfiltered. 250 cases produced.