2020 LXV The Secret
Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot
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LXV’s Left Bank Bordeaux Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot
Our 2020 the Secret is LXV’s left bank inspired Bordeaux Blend style The wine in a luscious blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc, and 14% Petit Verdot. These Bordeaux varietals work together and complement each other to bring a taste of Bordeaux to your palette.
Every year our Secret is our Bordeaux blend style – giving homage to Neeta and Kunal’s love of Bordeaux wines. The Left Bank of Bordeaux is mainly Cabernet with pockets of Cabernet Franc and the lovely (but intense!) Petit Verdot. Check out our LXV Blog on Left Vs. Right Bank of Bordeaux as we hone in on the differences between each side and what gave influence to both our 2020 the Secret and 2020 the Tempo blends.
The Trifecta of Vineyards to make the Perfect Bordeaux Blend Style
The Cabernet Sauvignon in this blend comes mainly from ONX Vineyard in the Templeton Gap District of West Paso Robles. The Cabernet we are getting is a 337 clone, and this specific block at ONX produces a more traditional Bordeaux style Cabernet with notes of black current and cassis. There is a slight green edge (think bell peppers) to it, but not overpowering.
The Petit Verdot in the blend is coming from Parrish Family Vineyard at the Templeton Vineyard site in the El Pomar District on the east side of Templeton. The site is home to a variety of soils such as granite, clay, and calcareous that help to grow fruit with “earthy flavors with a great mouthfeel.”
The Cabernet Franc we are pulling from Portico Hills! This site is located in the beautiful town of Los Alamos. We are using the leftover Cabernet Franc used to make our 2020 Reserve Cabernet Franc. The fruit we are getting is coming from one and a half acres on top of a steep hillside. Something special about this Cabernet Franc… it is own rooted! This means we didn’t graft the scion (vine with grapes) onto a different rootstock which is a common practice for fighting against phylloxera (a vine eating pest). The soils at Portico Hills are sandy enough that the phylloxera can’t survive.
On the other hand, our Petit Verdot comes from ONX Estate Vineyard on the west side of Paso Robles. ONX Estate Vineyard experiences warmer days with cooler nights due to our famous Paso Robles Templeton Gap Effect – wind tunnel that shoots through the hills that separate west paso from the coast and cools the whole area down starting in the afternoon. The soils consist of rocky alluviums (large rocks made mostly of calcareous soils) and sandy, gravelly loams which create great drainage and stress the vines – giving us fruit with intense flavors and aromas.
The Winemaking Behind LXV’s 2020 the Secret
The lots of each fruit we used to make this blend were harvested from October 5 – 27th of 2020. After fermentation, the wines were aged in a mix of French Oak Puncheons and Barriques. 35% of that being new oak.
LXV Winemaker, Jeff Strekas, Notes
“This Bordeaux blend was composed from some of our favorite sites around the Paso Robles AVA. Already intimately familiar with the fine grained structure and traditional cassis character that comes from ONX Estate, I sought to blend it with expressive fruit and herbaceous hints provided by the property of Portico Hills along with the dark fruit and powerful heft of PV from Parrish Family.”
Tasting Notes
As soon as you swirl and take your first sniff of the wine, big bold red fruits encapture you in the nose of this Bordeaux Style Paso Robles wine. The Cabernet from ONX gives the wine notes of black currant and cassis along with subtle but present green notes. The Petit Verdot gives the wine structure, acidity, and adds a touch more of inky purple to the color.