Hayfork St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
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Jeb Dunnuck
Starting with the two 2013s, which is winemaker Haley Wight’s favorite vintage, the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Lewelling Ranch spent 20 months in 70% new French oak. This ripe, opulent, incredibly sexy wine offers notes of currants, cassis, black cherries, licorice, hints of scorched earth. Ripe and opulent on the palate, with notable tannin and beautiful purity of fruit, give it a few years and it should shine for 15+.
Rating: 94+
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The exciting 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon from the respected Lewelling Ranch in St. Helena is a blend of 96% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot. Aged 20 months in 70% new French oak, this has a relatively realistic price point for Napa. There are 700 cases of this opaque purple wine, which exhibits classic Pauillac notes of Christmas fruitcake, allspice, cedar wood, black and red currants as well as hints of underbrush and earth. It is medium to full-bodied, deliciously fruity and pure, with light to moderate tannin in the finish. Drink it over the next 15+ years.
We are blessed with a fine cabernet soil and microclimate, which produce a grape with great concentration and poise. It is our belief that less is more when it comes to winemaking, and we strive to allow our wines to evolve naturally, with the least amount of manipulation possible.
We are proud to create a product that encourages folks to gather together.There is something special about a table shared, and we would be honored to know Hayfork is on your table.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
St. Helena is in the heart of the Napa Valley, nestled between Calistoga to the north and Rutherford on its southern border. On its western side, the Mayacamas Mountains guard it from the cooling effects of the Pacific Ocean; to its east stand the Vaca Mountains. In conjunction, these mountain ranges serve to lock in summer daytime heat. But in the evening, cool air from the San Pablo Bay funnels up through the valley, creating very chilly nights. It isn’t uncommon for temperatures to drop 50 degrees, a shift that promotes a balance of sugar ripeness and acidity in wine grapes.
St. Helena contains a plethora of different soil types in a small area, which have been enhanced over centuries by rain runoff from both mountain ranges. Its vineyards cover a variety of terrain, spreading across the bucolic valley floor and its benchlands.
These ideal topographic and climatic growing conditions easily caught the attention of early winemaking pioneers. In fact, St. Helena is the birthplace of Napa Valley’s commercial wine industry. Dr. Crane founded his cellar in 1859, David Fulton in 1860 and Charles Krug in 1861.
Today there are no less than 400 separate vineyards planted within the 12,000 acres that make up the St. Helena appellation.
Revered most for its red wines based on Bordeaux varieties, namely Cabernet Sauvignon, the St. Helena appellation is also a source of superior Syrah, Zinfandel and Sauvignon blanc.