A Visit to Dana Estates

Thanks to Jason for showing me around for the day. I got to taste their 2011s and Jason pulled a glass while we visited each vineyard site...a great way to learn about each site's characteristics. This was the first time I tried Dana Estates' wine and came away impressed. Such a great day.

• 2011 Dana Estates Cabernet Sauvignon Helms Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

  The Helms Vineyard is adjacent to Dana's winery in Rutherford and is their only vineyard site not on Howell Mountain. Of all of the 2011s from Dana, this struck me as the tightest and youngest. The tannins were really intense and drying with lots of dark fruits, and smokey oak notes. Will definitely need some time for the tannins to mellow out a bit.

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• 2004 Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Smaragd Singerriedel 93 Points

  Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau

  Coravined (with care). Jason brought this along for lunch and it was gorgeous. Beautiful melange of mangos, peaches, and pears. The acidity was crisp and the fruit beautifully layered and deep. There were some subtle signs of age with hints of petrol and lychee popping up on the finish. This is in such a great place right now, but can certainly keep aging for some time.

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• 2011 Dana Estates Cabernet Sauvignon Lotus Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley, St. Helena

  The Lotus Vineyard is situated with a southwestern exposure and gets the most direct sun of any of Dana's vineyards. It was hot in the vineyard - about 92 degrees. The vines were the furthest along (generally) than either Helms or Hershey, had the least shatter and the most consistent cluster formation. The wine had lots of spicy dark fruits, some smokey notes, and violets. Definitely had a density to it with a lot of tannins. Stylistically, this falls a bit outside my comfort zone although this is apparently less dense and fruited than some other years.

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• 2011 Dana Estates Sauvignon Blanc Hershey Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

  The fruit is from a vineyard site high atop Howell Mountain - roughly 1720 feet I believe. Dana Estates only has 2 acres of SB and doesn't (yet) sell it commercially. The parcel of Sauvignon Blanc also has a WNW exposure so it would seem to be a somewhat cooler exposure compared to some of the parcels within the Hershey Vineyard. What really struck me was the acidity on the finish. Just razor sharp. Combined with the beautiful fruits I thought this had a lot going for it. More Domaine de Chevalier than Edmond Vatan.

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• 2011 Dana Estates Cabernet Sauvignon Hershey Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

  The Hershey Vineyard is situated high up on Howell Mountain at roughly 1720 feet. I visited the vineyard immediately after Dana's Lotus Vineyard (located about 500 ft below on Howell Mountain) and the temperature had dropped 6 degrees (from 92 to 86) and a beautiful breeze had picked up. You could tangibly see the difference the vineyard site had on the vines too - they were far less developed than the Lotus or Helms vineyards due to the cooler site. For me, this was my favorite Dana Cabernet. The cooler 2011 season plus the cooler site resulted in a very elegant and floral cabernet. This had a nice spicy element too, great acidity on the finish, and some lingering tannins. This will certainly benefit from some age, but shows signs that it'll be a great wine.

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