2005 Rodney Strong Vineyards Symmetry, 6 Liter

Celebrating the esteemed art of blending, Symmetry captures the essence of the Alexander Valley. With 40 years experience growing classic French grape varieties here, we select our best cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and other traditional Bordeaux grapes from the hills that overlook the valley, where well-drained rocky soils combine with warm, sunny days and cool nights to provide ideal growing conditions. Select areas within each vineyard are hand harvested individually, fermented separately, and aged in the finest French oak barrels. After about six months, each lot is tasted and graded, and only the highest graded wines are considered for Symmetry. The blend is then assembled, and the wine is returned to barrels to facilitate flavor integration. The wine is aged an additional 12 to 18 months, depending on the vintage, before bottling.

Beginning in 2005, our Symmetry meritage is created in our new small lot winemaking facility, a “winery within the winery.” Under the direction of consulting winemaker David Ramey, we employ cutting edge techniques such as cluster pre-sorting, berry sorting, and extended maceration. With small tanks and equipment sized for the most discriminating vineyard selection process, our new facility is truly state-of-the-art, and represents the Klein family commitment towards producing the finest wines possible.

The 2005 vintage began with a rather late bud break during an unseasonably cool and wet spring. Record May rains luckily came before bloom for Bordelaise varieties, and an average to cool summer further contributed to a harvest about three weeks later than normal. Fortunately harvest conditions were rain free with ideal temperatures, and we finished bringing in the last of our Meritage fruit by the 2nd of November.

The 2005 Symmetry greets you with a generous bouquet of blackberries, ripe dark plums, sweet spices, and a hint of chocolate. It opens boldly on the palate with layers of blackberry, cassis, smoky dark chocolate and brown spice. This mouth-filling wine is rich, silky in texture, expansive, and quite long on the finish, and manages to be at once harmonious, powerful, and elegant. Intended to be enjoyable on release, Symmetry is destined for years of further evolution in the bottle. Savor it!