2017 2Hawk
Padigan Series Malbec
Produced only in exceptional vintages, our Padigan Series wines showcase our very best bottlings. Named after the rarest soil type on our vineyard, each 100% varietal wine benefits from late season ripening, extended maceration, a special barrel regimen, and an extra year of bottle age prior to release.
Every vintage, we take calculated risks in the vineyard and winery in the ultimate pursuit of quality. Some efforts are more successful than others,
but regardless of the outcome, we always learn something. Such is the case with this, our inaugural Padigan Series Malbec. We wanted to explore very late-season ripening characteristics and then try to harness the result in a multifaceted, layered, 100-percent varietal expression of our site. After a long, slow fermentation and extended maceration in new French oak, we gently pressed the fruit, then aged the wine for twenty-six months in proprietary French oak barrels. The wine sheets the glass as perfumed aromatics of crushed blue fruit, black cherry, and violets fill the nose. The palate is expansive and full with fine-grained tannins and a lengthy finish of blackberries, wet earth, and barrel vanillin. This essence of Malbec exudes luxury and refinement and will reward those with fortitude and a penchant for delayed gratification. For those lacking both, we suggest giving this an hour or more in a wide-bottom decanter. Enjoy 2022–2030 with roasted beef tenderloin and mushroom-dijon cream sauce or a Don Candido Dunhill Selección 500.
Aging: 26 months in 70% new, 30% 2-year-old French oak
2017 was a lesson in patience coming off record snowfall. What started as a normal, relatively cool spring ended on a warm trend that continued until mid-July, when Mother Nature reminded us of her fickleness. August turned out to be one of the coolest in the last twenty years, allowing our fruit to ripen slowly and evenly. Fall continued the cool trend, and—thanks to our perfectly balanced crop load and expert water stress management—we began harvest on September 8, a week later than anticipated. As harvest progressed in unseasonably cool conditions, we became so excited by the flavor development we tasted in the vineyard that we delayed harvest of many blocks until the last possible minute. Our final fruit came in on November 2 with superb ripeness in exquisite condition.
| Varietal Composition | 100% Malbec |
| Appellation | Rogue Valley |
| Harvest Date | 11/02/2017 |
| Alcohol | 13.80% |
| Volume | 750 ml |
| Bottling Date | 03/02/2020 |
| Cases Produced | 44 |
Wine Enthusiast Magazine: 93 points
San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition: Silver Medal
Although part of the Rogue Valley AVA, the 2Hawk Estate Vineyard lies in an area known locally as the Bear Creek sub-basin. The two-layered bedrock beneath our soils consists of a shallow volcanic layer, the Roxy Formation, and a deeper, softer layer of alluvial sandstone, The Payne Cliffs Formation. The Klamath Mountains uplifting event, roughly 20 million years ago, began a long erosion process that resulted in our predominately volcanic soils, which are unique to the Rogue Valley AVA. An area of cobbled river rocks in our eastern section and a sandy streak of considerably younger colluvial deposit running through the center of our vineyard site distinguish 2Hawk from neighboring vineyards. Overall, we have some of the oldest soils in the valley and they are characterized as shallow silty- to clayey-loams that are moderately well drained with moderate to rapid runoff.
