Winemaker Notes
Ripe and juicy, with plum and berry fruits complemented by a slight earthiness, this 2017 selection is a testament to its extraordinary vineyard provenance. The wine is both approachable yet complex, with fine tannins and subtle notes of fruit and earth lingering on the finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
From a stellar site on Napa Valley’s western edges beneath the Mayacamas Mountains, this Cabernet is tight and firm in tannins, with tangy red cherry and cassis lifting it up. Smooth on the palate, it is complex and delightfully inviting, offering an intriguing mix of dried herb and exotic spice.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Lastly, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Hayne Vineyard comes from St. Helena and is another beautiful wine in the lineup, which as a whole showed beautifully. Juicy red, blue, and black fruits, lots of chocolate and spice, medium to full body, and silky tannins all make for an outstanding, satisfying 2017 Cabernet that’s ideal for drinking over the coming 15 years or more. This was a great lineup from Nickel & Nickel and these wines are well worth seeking out.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Hayne Vineyard has a nose of stewed plums, raisin cake and espresso with dried herbs, tilled soil, tobacco and charcuterie plus notions of camphor and Chinese five spice. The palate is medium to full-bodied, firm and chewy with a good amount of spicy fruit on the finish.
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.