CASE PRICE = $43.99 per bottle (add 12+ quantity to your basket)
Notes from the Winemaker:“The 2006 Helena Montana Cabernet Sauvignon is a wine with a very elegant and refined nose of black fruits. An initial impression on the palate of vanilla from well integrated oak. The architecture of this wine is well constructed, very spiced, with an extra long finish of minerality infused with soft delicate tannins, attributing to its long aging potential. Before 2011, decant for full enjoyment.” - Pierre Seillan, Vigneron/Winemaker
Source
Sourced from estate-owned vineyards, Anakota is a collection of single vineyard, single varietal, Knights Valley appellation wines that personify the rustic elegance and spirit of rural Sonoma County. Situated on the flanks and foothills of Mount St. Helena, at the heart of a complex volcanic zone that erupted several million years ago, the Helena Montana Vineyard is brought to life as stressed vines struggle with the rocky soils and challenging climatic conditions to create small, intensely flavored berries.
Running northeast to southwest on the eastern side of scenic Highway 128, the Helena Mountain vineyard offers ever-changing topography. Rolling hills abut steep benches with slopes of up to 30 degrees. This juxtaposition of hills, knolls and trees routes cool, westerly winds away from the vines. Planting vines perpendicular to the prevailing winds provides even more protection. A pure mountain stream and rocky ridge separate this vineyard from our Helena Dakota vineyard.
Distinctive yellow-white soil that does not yield easily to touch typifies this vineyard. This pale, sandy and gravelly loam at first glance resembles solid rock. A stringent pruning process forces the roots of vines down through this firm soil strata rather than allowing them to grow parallel to the surface as they would on their own. All the same, the roots do not deeply penetrate the earth, which results in smaller, more stressed vines than those of our neighboring Helena Dakota vineyard.
Statistics
100% Cabernet Sauvignon
15.0% Alcohol
0.41 TA
3.68 pH
Aged 17 months in small French oak barrels, 82% new
94 Points - James Suckling:
"Some jam but lots of spices and currants on the nose. Very stylish. Full bodied, with a beautiful purity of fruit and super silky tannins. Good acidity, very focused, and pinpointed flavors. A nice combination of richness and finesse." (Feb. 2011)
93+ Points - Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar:"Bright, deep ruby. Vibrant, complex aromas and flavors of cassis, licorice pastille, spices and flowers. Penetrating, dense and juicy, with a slowly building sweetness that carries through to the very long, tannic, gripping finish. Still youthfully imploded but with the structure for an extended evolution in bottle. Classic 2007 in style." -Stephen Tanzer (May/June '10)
92+ Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:
"The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana (100% Cabernet
Sauvignon) exhibits an unmistakable minerality with a volcanic
rock/burning ember/scorched earth component to its beautifully pure
black currant fruit. Full-bodied, powerful and muscular with a boatload
of tannin as well as fabulous concentration, this may turn out to be one
of the longest lived wines ever made from Knight’s Valley. Give it 3-4
more years of bottle age and drink it over the following 25 years.
The
brilliant winemaker who has propelled one of Jess Jackson’s flagship
wineries, Verite in Sonoma, to the pinnacle of world-class Cabernet
Sauvignon, Pierre Seillan, is also behind these offerings from high
elevation vineyards in Knight’s Valley. Both are textbook 2007s
possessing flamboyant, ripe, expressive personalities with plenty of
structure and power. Like Seilan’s Verite offerings (which will be
reviewed in the February, 2011 issue), they will be very long lived in
the style of great Bordeaux." -Robert Parker (Dec 2010)
94 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (2006 vintage):
"The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana’s inky purple color is followed by a rich, sumptuous bouquet of espresso roast, melted chocolate, black currants, charcoal, and subtle background oak. Full-bodied and dense with silky tannins as well as a slightly more velvety texture and opulence than its sibling, this beauty should drink well for 20-25+ years." -Robert Parker (02/10)
92 Points - Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (2006 vintage):
"Good full ruby. Vibrant nose offers cassis, black cherry and violet. Densely packed, rich and sweet, but more brooding, even medicinal, and showing less early definition than the Helena Dakota. Perhaps best today on the hugely tannic but very long and subtly rising finish. This big boy is stuffed with cassis and soil flavors." -Stephen Tanzer (May/June 2009)
