Martin Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
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The property functioned as the H.H. Harris Winery until Prohibition. In 1909 Harris leased his fully equipped building to Georges de Latour who was looking for a facility as well as a good winemaker to teach his young apprentice Joseph Ponti.
The property was purchased in 1996 by wine aficionados Greg and Petra Martin who recognized the potential of the historic chateau and its untouched prime Napa Valley vineyard land. The Rutherford Estate Vineyard was planted, named "Puerta Dorada" with a nod to the past, and the H.H. Harris Winery was resurrected as MARTIN ESTATE after ninety years of dormancy.
Dedicated to making the very best wine from the grapes grown on the Estate's small eight acre vineyard, the Martin family embarked on their journey to produce Cabernet Sauvignons that would compare to the First Growths of Bordeaux. Today, French trained award winning winemaker Aaron Pott is in charge of pursuing this goal, and the result can be seen in Martin Estate's unsurpassed cellar equipment of custom made French cement Nomblot tanks, oak fermenters by Radoux, state-of-the-art stainless steel tanks by Jejeune, an Italian Mori basket press and the most discriminating sorting equipment that allows single berry selection and fermentation.
Just as it was in 1887, all Martin Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is made on the premises, "Estate grown, produced and bottled".
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.
The Rutherford sub-region of Napa Valley centers on the town of Rutherford and covers some of Napa Valley’s finest vineyard real estate, spanning from the Mayacamas in the west, to the Vaca Mountains on the other side of the valley.
Inside of the Rutherford AVA, bordering the Mayacamas, is a stretch of uplands called the Rutherford Bench. (These bench lands technically run the length of Oakville as well). Mountain runoff creates deep, well-drained, alluvial soils on the bench, giving vine roots plenty of reason to permeate deep into the ground. The result is wine with great structure and complexity.
Rutherford Cabernet Sauvingons and Bordeaux Blends garner substantial attention for their enticing fragrances of dusty earth and dried herbs, broad and juicy mid-palates and lush and fine-grained tannins. The sub-appellation claims some of the valley’s most prized vineyards today, namely Caymus, Rubicon and Beckstoffer Georges III.
It is also home to Napa’s most influential and historic personalities. Thomas Rutherford, responsible for the appellation's name, made serious investments here in grape growing and wine production between the years of 1850 to 1880. Gustave Niebaum purchased a large swath of land and completed his winery in 1887, calling it “Inglenook.” Today this remains the oldest bonded winery in California. Georges Latour founded Beaulieu Vineyard in 1900, making it the oldest continuous winery in the state. Latour also hired the famous enologist, André Tchelistcheff, a man credited for single-handedly defining the modern Napa winemaking style.