Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a tremendous Cabernet Sauvignon, but be warned, it’s so tannic, it makes your tongue curl. That’s what mountain grapes, grown at 2,000 feet with low yields and small berries, do. Such is the core of black currants, however, that aging is not a problem. With its dryness, intensity and overall balance, it should easily negotiate the next decade. Really displays Napa mountain Cab at its best.
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Connoisseurs' Guide
The very deep, slightly loamy, distinctly curranty, oak-enriched aromas of this substantial offering are long on keenly defined Cabernet character, and the wine follows up with layered, incisively varietal flavors that, while conveying a fine sense of ripeness, are never heavy or overdone. Big-bodied, yet nicely balanced and already sporting glimmers of suppleness that will become more evident with time, it ends with a note of gruff finishing tannins making the case for at least another five years of patience.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From the estate vineyard (planted at a 2,000 foot elevation), the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Rattlesnake Hill exhibits classic aromas of black raspberries, blueberries, and the mountain fruit spectrum, very good acidity, a noticeable wet rock-like minerality, and a powerful core of rich fruit backed up by sweet, ripe, well-integrated tannin. This big wine should age nicely for 15 or more years.
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.
Above the town of St. Helena on the eastern slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains sits the Spring Mountain District.
A dynamic region, its vineyards, cut by numerous springs and streams, vary in elevation, slope and aspect. Soils differ throughout with over 20 distinct types inside of the 8,600 acres that define the appellation. Within that area, only about 1,000 are planted to vineyards. Predominantly farmed by small, independent producers, the region currently has just over 30 wineries.
During the growing season, late afternoon Pacific Ocean breezes reach the Spring Mountain vineyards, which sit at between 400 and 1,200 feet. Daytime temperatures during mid summer and early fall remain slightly cooler than those of the valley floor.
Spring Mountain soils—volcanic matter and sedimentary rock—create intense but balanced reds with lush and delicate tannins. The area excels with Bordeaux varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot and in some cooler spots, Chardonnay.