Hagafen Prix Melange 2004
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Rich in red currant, cassis, licorice, cola, vanilla cream and smoky oak flavors, with a smoothly tannic texture, this wine seems to be Cabernet-based. It's made solidly along Napa cult Cab lines, a softly voluptuous wine that's delicious now, and should age well for many years. From Hagafen.
Owned and operated by Irit and Ernie Weir, the winery was founded in 1979, and the first commercially released vintage was harvested in 1980. In the ensuing years, Hagafen has grown from a small partnership producing wine with grapes from Winery Lake Vineyard, then owned by Rene DiRosa, to a well-established wine company whose wines are distributed throughout North America and overseas. Since 1980 Hagafen wines have been served on numerous occasions at the White House to visiting foreign dignitaries. Ernie’s daily involvement in the two sides of wine production, grape growing and winemaking, ensures the superb quality of the wines.
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.