Don's Gillette's Wine Blog
Musings from our store's resident wine guru
Don has over thirty years experience in the wine industry. For the last eighteen years his attention has been focused on the growing local industry. Don has a large following of customers who search out his opinions (never in short supply!) on new releases and on what's currently most distinctive on our shelves. Others seek his insights on wineries and trends that are still under the radar. Read Don's full bio...
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Back for the Barrels
A week ago Saturday I was in Napa Valley. In last Tuesdays blog I wrote about a great lunch with Linda Neal at Tierra Rosa. That was actually our second stop. Before lunch, we went to Dana Estate, the spectacular new project at the west end of Whitehall Lane. It was my guest Mark's first visit, but a return stop for me. I came back for the barrels.
Last month, when I visited Dana and tried their wonderful 2005 Helms vineyard bottling, I was promised a 2007 barrel tour if I came back when the winemaker was present. The overall winemaking program at Dana is under the direction of famed consultant Philippe Melka, but the day to day sous-chef is Cameron Vawter. Cameron gave up his Saturday to meet us.
He waltzed us through Dana's 2007 barrels, each a representative of a distinctive vineyard and each destined to be bottled as a separate "vineyard designate". Afterward, we were treated to another look at the 2005 Helms, in bottle.
The '07 Helms, from the vineyard adjacent to the winery, proved a close relative of its bottled '05 sibling. Its aromas showed fine depth, luxurious oak and lovely fruit definition. On the palate, it delivered a gush of mocha covered cherries, red currants, toast and allspice. The mid-palate feel was creamy and the finish was lingering, with enough fruit intensity to pretty much eclipse its tannins.
The 2007 barrel from the Hershey vineyard, 1800 feet up Howell Mountain, was 100% Cabernet, which was entirely from clone 191 and showed it. It was darker, zestier and more obviously tannic than the Helms. The aromas bore a savory veneer which included smoke, bouillon, Darjeeling tea and the wind through a forest: all this over blueberry-blackberry fruit that was almost grapey. The lasting impressions were of ripe, intense and well-defined fruit, exquisite winemaking and tannic grip. It promises years of improvement.
The '07 Lotus Vineyard was the biggest, most complex and most difficult to fully predict of the three. The vineyard is in the Howell Mountain foothills, not far from Viader, both in its location and in its dark fruit-earth personality. I found a fascinating contrast between the fruit-centered, almost feminine character of its aromas and the powerful La Mission Haut Brion-like earthiness and iron backbone it displayed on the palate. This is a huge, concentrated monster: super tight and super tannic, but super long and built around a core of Cassis, bitter chocolate, dark cherry, vanilla, caramel and intense dark earthiness. Expect it to need ten years, after it is bottled.
Bye the way, the 2005 Helms was just as lovely as I remembered. My friend Mark said it might well be the best Cabernet he had ever tasted (he later had a similar reaction to the Tierra Roja Cab). These are pricey wines, but God knows they are fit to drink.