St. Julian cap drain wines are dry red blends that change depending on the vintage and the desired combinations by our winemaking team. This past May for example we introduced two new cap drain wines exclusively for our Wine Club members – the 2021 Braganini Reserve Winemaker’s Series Cap Drain #1 BDX and the 2022 Braganini Reserve Winemaker’s Series Cap Drain #1 which is a delightful Tempranillo, Blaufränkisch, and Cabernet Franc blend. But what exactly is the cap drain process of winemaking and what makes these wines so special?
Our very own Vice President of Winemaking Nancie Oxley learned this artisanal process from famed Winemaker Daryl Groom while she was interning at Geyser Peak Winery in Napa Valley. In red winemaking, it’s necessary to ferment the juice and skins together to extract color, flavor, and texture. As the wine ferments, the skins rise to the top of the tank and form a thick “cap” or layer that floats on the top of the wine. When wine is ready to be placed into barrels for aging, it is drained off this layer of skins.
Normally, the cap is discarded or turned into compost. What makes the cap drain wines so special, is that the cap is utilized in the winemaking. For an additional 48 hours, these skins and seeds, which have little pockets of wine trapped in them, are allowed to hang out. This trapped wine continues extracting color, flavor, and texture, intensifying all these elements in the wine. Gravity naturally and gently presses this amped up wine out of the skins and then it’s aged separately in barrels. The result is small lots of dark, intense red wines.
Each year, different blends of cap drain wines are created. For the 2021 Braganini Reserve Winemaker’s Series Cap Drain #1 BDX, cap drain wines of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon were blended creating an earthy, fruity wine. (BDX stands for Bordeaux, as in the style of wines created in the Bordeaux region of France.) The 2022 Braganini Reserve Winemaker’s Series Cap Drain #1 is a blend of Tempranillo, Blaufränkisch, and Cabernet Franc. A touch fruiter than the BDX, this wine has crunchy flavors of raspberry, plum, and cola making it an excellent warm weather red. Available for a limited time, these wines are a must try before they are gone!
Interested in learning more about our Wine Club? Members get access to exclusive, limited release wines just like these! Be ahead of the crowd and secure these types of wines well in advance of other St. Julian patrons by joining.
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