2005 St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon, A Leonardini Family Selection, 1.5L

The Appellation:
St. Helena is a small town and a world class growing region for Cabernet Sauvignon. It is made up of vineyards on hillsides, mountains and the Napa Valley floor. The hillside and mountain vineyards offer fruit with great structure while the valley floor vines produce fruit with stunning finesse.

The Vineyards:
The grapes were grown in three St. Helena vineyards including Whitehall Lanes Leonardini Vineyard and Fawn Park Vineyard. These two properties offer the best that Napa Valley has to offer. The Leonardini Vineyard is on a gravel stratum on the west side of the Valley Floor and produces ripe, powerful fruit. The Fawn Park Vineyard is a gently sloping hillside vineyard on the eastern side of the Napa Valley and produces jammy grapes with great complexity.

The Vintage:
2005 was an outstanding growing year that began with cool, wet weather, followed by mild summer months. With ample moisture in the soil and warm days, the fruit ripened slowly and evenly. After extended hangtime for ripe flavor development, the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were harvested from October 8th to November 5th.

Winemaking:
The wine was made in three separate barrel lots and blended together after 16 months. The oak treatment was 100% French Oak of which 40% was new oak and 60% was aged in two year old barrels. The barrels came from several coopers and with different toast levels and were carefully selected to match this wine. The wine was racked three times during the aging process and was bottled in late November 2007 after 25 months in barrel.

Tasting Notes:
The combination of hillside and valley floor fruit balances beautifully in this offering. The wine has gently floral and sweet ripe aromas that grandly and elegantly expand to flavors of black cherry, plum and cedary earth tones. The plushness of this wine extends through the long, graceful finish. Wonderful to enjoy now, but will continue improving and evolving through 2019.