The long-running drought in Napa Valley ended with the beginning of the growing season for the 2016 vintage. Average winter rains kept the vines and soil moist. There were no heat waves like those in 2014 and 2015 in 2016, and it was a relatively cool vintage. While every winery was able to harvest high-quality grapes, it was a year in which failure was not an option. For Hundred Acres, 2016 was a historic vintage. Caylee Morgan Vineyard is located at the foot of Howell Mountain, a short distance north of the town of St. Helena. The clay soil, reminiscent of chocolate, has high water retention and provides a moderate cooling effect for the vines. In the latter half of the summer, the grapes extend their roots deep into the soil in search of moisture through cracks in the dry, cracked soil. The minerality unique to Caylee Morgan comes from the moisture that the grapes absorb from deep in the soil. 100% from their own vineyards, 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Hundred Acres is a boutique winery in Napa Valley founded in 1998 (at the age of 36 at the time) by Jason Woodbridge, who made a fortune at a young age while working in investment banking. Jason has established a "0 or 100" policy, firmly believing that "if it's not of the highest quality, there's no point in doing it," and produces the "perfect" Cabernet Sauvignon without any compromise. Hundred Acres is not a wine made by striving for "perfection," but a wine brewed with the utmost care, with "perfection" being the fundamental premise.
This is a Lutra Premium wine. The grapes from each vineyard are harvested by hand in batches according to the aging process. After harvest, the grapes are thoroughly hand-selected and separated by harvest time, plot, and vineyard, and then fermented, pressed, and aged separately. The French oak used at Hundred Acres is only fine-grained wood from specific forests, and only high-spec barrels that are naturally dried for at least three years and then toasted are used. All wines are aged for at least 30 months, and only those that Jason considers to be complete are bottled and released. Of course, wines that are not "perfect" are not released in the first place.