2013 Saint Helena Winery Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Reserve, made under the consulting assistance of Aaron Pott, certainly performed quite well. Dense purple, with notes of graphite, créme de cassis and blackberry as well as loamy soil/forest floor notes in the background, it is long, rich, opulent and can be drunk now or cellared for another 15-20 years.
Once in a while, with extraordinary vintages, a special lot of wine is discovered in the cellar. Winemakers Aaron Pott and Lindsey Wallingford strive to select no more than four barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon during these extraordinary vintages to create our estate’s most dense, intense and age-worthy wine. Not surprisingly, this special cuvee tends to originate on the rocky soils of “Block 1” on the south side of our estate. The See clone bud wood came from Napa Valley’s famed “Backus Vineyard” in Oakville. The soil and clonal selection (and farming practices) yield very small berries with intense flavors and tannins. Aaron carved this small lot wine out of the cellar to create the first vintage of our “Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon” in 2010.