2004 Helena Dakota Cabernet Sauvignon

“The growing season in 2004 was warm and dry. The wine that resulted is very dark to opaque ruby in color. It opens with aromas of powerful, fresh ripe blackberries, plums, raspberries and cassis with hints of tobacco, vanilla, violets and dark soil. Not surprisingly, this wine is full-bodied and intensely concentrated. Notes of dark cherry, plums, anise, coffee and a distinct minerality prevail on the palate. This textured wine offers great vitality, embedded tannins and a long finish that should bode well for extended aging. Before 2010, decant for full enjoyment.” - Pierre Seillan, Vigneron/Winemaker

94+ POINTS, Robert Parker, Jr., The Wine Advocate, December 2006
“The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota's vineyard is planted in more reddish, loamy soils mixed with the white volcanic ash. It is a deeper, fuller-bodied effort with an inky/purple color as well as sweet aromas of blueberries, blackberries, graphite, and subtle new oak. With beautiful purity as well as hints of crushed stones and flowers, a wealth of fruit, an extravagantly rich mouthfeel, sweet tannin, and a long finish, this seamless Cabernet should drink well for 15-20 years.”

89+ POINTS, Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, May 2007
“From rocky red clay soil. Full red-ruby. Aromas of licorice, graphite, tobacco, minerals and fresh herbs on the nose, along with some sweet oak. Then supple but slightly edgy in the mouth, with a musky quality and a slight greenness to the medicinal black cherry and currant flavors. Finishes with building, slightly gritty tannins. This boasts very good material but today the wine's 75% new oak component seems a bit overbearing.”

This 12.4 acre vineyard runs southeast to northwest on the eastern side of scenic Highway 128 and possesses slopes of up to 15 degrees. Prevailing westerly winds pass over a large, cold pond and blow uphill, parallel to the rows of vines. These cooling breezes slow down the ripening of the grapes and result in wines that are packed with elegance, complexity and finesse. A pure mountain stream and rocky ridge separate this vineyard from our Helena Montana vineyard.

Silt-loam soil that is reddish brown in color prevails in the Helena Dakota Vineyard. Although the soil is rocky in some places, overall it is softer than the soil our neighboring Helena Montana Vineyard. The softer soil allows vines to establish deeper root systems and grow larger vines. Without fail, the fruit each vintage possesses mineral qualities characteristic of this unique combination of soil and temperature.

• 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
• 14.0% Alcohol
• 0.59 TA
• 3.63 pH
• Aged 14 months in small French oak barrels, 70% new