The Art
The 2002 vintage is the 28th Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon from Kenwood.  Since the early Seventies, Kenjilo Nanao has been a quiet force in the San Francisco Bay Area school of abstract expressionism. Kenji first became known for his delicate, surreal, and sometimes erotic lithograph still lifes with finely graded grounds of color reminiscent of Japanese Shunga prints. In the early eighties he began to focus more attention on painting. Interestingly, the larger scale and more direct approach attending the new medium seemed to inspire an equally dramatic shift in style. This led to a re-examination of his understanding of the tenets of abstract expressionism. The result has been a joining of plastic and metaphorical imagery which Nanao calls "a state of elegant confusion,” eloquently portrayed in this painting, “White Waves.”

The Wine
The 2002 Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon is a rich, concentrated wine with aromas of red currants black cherries, and plums followed by aromatic notes of French oak, spice and black licorice. It exhibits excellent structure that is characterized by its full-bodied mouth feel, smooth tannins and lingering, silky finish. This Artist Series was bottle-aged before release making it very drinkable now but it should continue to improve for at least another decade.

The finest lots of Cabernet Sauvignon were selected from our hillside vineyards located in Sonoma Valley’s Mayacamas range. This intense mountain Cabernet Sauvignon was blended with a small percentage of Malbec, Merlot and Cabernet Franc from the rich soil of the Sonoma Valley floor to add body and ripe fruit qualities to the wine.

After harvest in early October, the grapes were fermented separately in stainless steel tanks. After pressing and settling, they were placed in small French oak barrels for a total of 26 months. After barrel-aging was complete, the best lots were carefully selected and blended and bottled.  After bottling, the wine was aged for an additional year and a half before it was released.

Composition: 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Malbec, 3% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc
Aging: 26 months in French oak
Appellation: 100% Sonoma Valley
Alcohol: 14.5%