2006 Outpost Howell Mountain Grenache Napa Valley

Release Date	October 2008
Appellation	Howell Mountain elev. 2200 feet above the Napa Valley floor
Winemaker	Thomas Rivers Brown
Varietal composition	100% Grenache, all from our estate
Production	175 cases
Alcohol	15.2%
Cooperage	2 - 5 year-old French oak barrels

Winemakers Notes

In 2006, we broke our small lot of Grenache into two parcels to try out different levels of whole cluster fermentation. We treated one lot our traditional way with 50% stems while keeping a separate lot to experiment with 100% whole cluster. Both went to barrel in the oldest Burgundy barrels in the winery. The wine is light in color with soaring aromatics balanced between fruit sweetness and savory element added by the stem retention. The palate weight is tremendous with plenty of fruit tannin framing the finish.