史前時期，洶湧的俄羅斯河攜帶的岩石侵蝕了亞歷山大山谷。留下的沉積岩定義了葡萄園的土壤，而高聳的山丘則像烤箱一樣吸收了夏季的熱量。 Rio Lago 葡萄園坐落在 Mayacamas 山脈的西麓，經歷著 Alexander Valley內最潮濕的小氣候之一。
這些葡萄種植在不同的黏土和粉質壤土中，形成獨特的風味，釀造出高度複雜的葡萄酒。晚上，從太平洋沿著俄羅斯河吹來的海洋空氣為葡萄園帶來涼爽。白天的熱量使葡萄成熟，晚上的空氣使葡萄冷卻，這兩者的結合促進了新鮮度、所需的酸度和酚類成熟度，這是生產超優質赤霞珠的關鍵。葡萄在夜間手工採摘、分類並輕輕去梗。發酵由天然酵母進行，加熱至峰值溫度 100°F。葡萄酒在果皮上放置 28 天，每天泵送超過 2 次，然後在發酵高峰時每天泵送 3 次，最後 8 天降至每天一次。然後將葡萄酒輕輕壓製成單獨的部分，在木桶中進行蘋果酸乳酸發酵，並在 50% 的新法國橡木桶中陳釀 14 個月。

In pre-historic times, rock carried by a rampaging Russian River carved the Alexander Valley. The sedimentary rock left behind defines the vineyard soil, while the towering hills trap the summer heat like an oven. The Rio Lago Vineyard sits at the western foothills of the Mayacamas Mountain range, and experiences one of the wettest microclimates within the Alexander Valley AVA. Planted in diverse clay-loams and silty-loam soils, the grapes develop unique flavors, creating wines with high levels of complexity.
In the evenings, the vineyard is cooled by marine air moving in along the Russian River from the Pacific Ocean. The combination of daytime heat to ripen grapes and evening air to cool them down promotes freshness, needed acidity, & phenolic ripeness, keys to producing an ultra-premium quality Cabernet Sauvignon. Grapes are hand-harvested at night, sorted, & gently destemmed. Fermentation is carried out by native yeasts & warms to temperatures peaking up to 100ºF. Wine is left on skins for 28 days, pumped over 2x per day, then at peak fermentation 3x per day, before dropping to once a day for the final 8 days. The wine is then gently pressed off into separate fractions for malolactic fermentation in the barrel and ages for 14 months in 50% new French oak.