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2003 vintage guide for California Cabernet Sauvignon

keep

Small yields of small berries with intense flavours produced a wine style of concentration with aging potential

Weather Conditions

Warm February weather tricked the vines into early bud break but it was immediately followed by an unseasonably cold and extremely wet April in which the vines virtually stopped growing for several weeks. May temperatures were closer to normal, and the vines resumed growth once again.
The result was a slightly below average ‘set’ in Cabernet. It warmed up in June and there were some record-breaking heat waves, especially in July. August saw a return to average or below-average temperatures. After some rains in early September, a warm pattern set in around September, and the harvest was running hot and heavy since then. Hot weather around the 25th had most crews picking non-stop as varieties ripened quickly.

Best Appellations

Mendocino County, the Lake Counties, Southern California, Santa Cruz Mountains

Best Producers

Too early to tell just yet.

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