Bommarito Vineyard Napa Valley 2000
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Winemaker Notes
This maiden release of Bommarito Cabernet Sauvignon is the culmination of winemaking expertise and the stellar growing season of this year in the Napa Valley. This wine is not a ‘vineyard designated' wine; it is a stand-alone brand. The Bommarito Cabernet Sauvignon is presented by Whitehall Lane Winery in St. Helena and is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from a select number of Napa Valley vineyards.
Winemaking:
The summer was ideal with warm days developing the grape flavors and ripening the fruit. The weather was perfect from bud break in May through the summer season. The Cabernet grapes were harvested at full maturity in October from vineyards in Rutherford, St. Helena and Napa. There is also 20% Merlot from Rutherford blended into this wine that was aged in American oak barrels for 14 months. This oak aging enhanced the fruit flavors and added length to the smooth finish. The Merlot increases the plush mid-palate of this wine.
Bommarito is an almost forgotten historic name in the Napa Valley. Dominic Bommarito, who was born in Sicily in 1889, immigrated to the United States in 1903 and moved to his Rutherford estate in 1929. He was a founding member of the Napa Valley Co-Op at Greystone and tended to his Rutherford vineyard until his death in 1963.
Tasting Notes:
This wine was made to be enjoyed young. It is splendid with aromas of spicy, perfumed blackberry and oak. On the palate it shows flavors of sweet cherry, blackberry and vanilla. It has a pleasing soft finish.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.