Inwood Estates Vineyards - The "Cornelious"

The great vintage of 2005 provided a perfect confluence
of grapes with excellent chemistry and generous
yields. After harvesting and field crushing the
Tempranillo-Cabernet bringing that wine to its preferred
blending ratio, a substantial amount of Tempranillo was
still in the field.

Therefore, on October 4, harvesting resumed for this
special batch. The grapes benefitted greatly from
perfect ripening conditions with long hangtime under
cool temperatures. The wine was processed into
French Oak barrels like all of our wines without a clear
plan regarding what we were going to do with it. Inwood
Estates was conceived with a committment to the
European tradition of blending specifically because the
high-mineral conditions of Texas closely resembled
that of Europe. Likewise, the famous blends of
European wines have been carefully crafted over
centuries to maximize wine quality in these settings.

However, there are some famous exceptions and they
often occur with "red-fruit" varieties (pinot noir,
tempranillo and sangiovese [see our page on our
Tempranillo-Cabernet] ). In the case of our
"Cornelious", it became evident that this wine was to
be a very different wine than our regular
Tempranillo-Cabernet blend, being very soft and velvety
as opposed to the more muscular and structured wine
with Cabernet added.

The result is a wine that is almost Pinot-style, but
more inky and extracted than Pinot. Its large, powerful
nose and mouthfeel reflect the extended ripening. The
red-fruit flavors of this wine are less bright than the
blend favoring black cherries with a secondary layer of
vanilla.

There will not be a "Cornelious" every year. There will
not be one in 2006 due to a small harvest of
Tempranillo because of drought, but there will be one
in 2007.