Winemaking

Upon harvest, Jarvis grapes are carried to the cave in small 30lb. lugs. We utilize these small lugs rather than gondolas so as not to prematurely crush any of the grapes. Upon entering the cave, these grapes will not see the light of day again until they are sold as wine.

Once the grapes arrive at the cave they will go straight to the Fermentation Gallery, which contains both upright and rotary fermenters. The upright fermentation tanks are shorter and wider than most fermentation tanks, which improves the cap ratio for optimum color and flavor extraction from the skins. The tanks are all jacketed with a Glycol heating and cooling system. We have 2 fourteen ton rotary fermenters, which provide us a nearly perfect cap ratio. These rotary fermenters are typically used for our reserve wines.

After fermentation, and to minimize contact with stainless steel, the wines are moved into upright oak cuves for settling. The staves for these large cuves were produced by Radoux in Cognac, France, they arrived in numbered bundles, and were assembled on the spot by Radoux coopers. During the periods of time for wine settling for blending, or for additions the wine is kept in the Radoux cuves rather than stainless tanks, so as to minimize the possibility of the wine developing mercaptans which would detract from the wines natural fruity flavor.

Each vintage of Jarvis wine is aged in 100% new French oak barrels. The barrels are stored in single tiers in the aging galleries of the cave. The wines rest comfortably in their barrels at a steady, year-round temperature of 61°F, and a humidity level of 80%. The caves allow us the benefit of a constant temperature, and the underground stream and waterfall to maintain our desired level of humidity.

The winemakers at Jarvis make use of the laboratory in the cave for analysis of the wine throughout the winemaking process. Once the wine has begun to mature, lot samples will be taken, and blending will begin. Here at Jarvis we grow all of the classic blending varieties for Cabernet Sauvignon; we do not however, regularly employ certain blends just to make use of all our vines. In those years when there is no clear advantage to blending we do not. Blending at Jarvis is often done in barrel to achieve a perfect marriage of the varietal components long before bottling.

The last stage of the winemaking process finds our wine in the state-of-the-art bottling and labeling room. Once bottled, labeled, and packaged, the wine rests in our cave until shipping.