Palladian Estate Winery
2006 Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
California: St. Helena (Napa)
Mission Briefing
Harlan Schmarlan
Harlan Estates crafts some of the most sought-after - and most expensive wines in this country. Their Napa Valley estate Cabernet Sauvignon fetches $250 a bottle. Next door to Harlan sits the tiny hidden gem Palladian Estate Winery, where winemaker David Mahafey crafts some of our favorite Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
David Mahafey, who will personally hand sign all of your bottles of today’s wine, has outdone himself with today’s 2006 Palladian Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. This wine is impeccably balanced, delicious and very elegant. Well-integrated tannins, a supple mouth feel and wonderful aromatics make for a fantastic drinking experience overall. Take that, Harlan!
Decant this elegant wine for optimal results - or swirl and sample to see how the wine improves with each spin.
Tasting Profile
| Look: | Deep ruby at the core with fine purple edging. |
|---|---|
| Smell: | Blackberry and plum compote, with follow-on notes of braised mission fig, dusty briar patch, subtle pine resin, bakers chocolate, sweet tobacco and mollasses. |
| Taste: | Dark, rich flavors that almost perfectly mimic the lush nose. In addition to those flavors, dried violets, black cherry juice and subtle dried fall leaves round out the palate. |
| Finish: | Plush and elegant, with dark fruit that sustains for a very long time. |
| Pairing: | Enjoy this elegant and delicious wine with a beef stroganoff or a wild mushroom risotto. |
What the Winery Says
Palladian produces approximately 500 cases per year of Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is produced in a “Bordelais” style that is drinkable with food and ages well. Each vintage is picked 3 to 4 times at harvest. Only the ripe part of a bunch is taken. Prior to loading into the stemmer crusher the berries are sorted to remove leaves and unripe fruit. The stemmer crusher is operated very gently with the aim of removing the grapes from the stem without breaking their skins. The berries are then placed into open fermenters and yeast is added. They slowly ferment with the berries splitting their skins as they expand to give us the desired flavor. The resultant crust is punched down every 4 to 6 hours until such time as the primary fermentation is completed. By using open top fermenteres and punching down, we are able to “blow off” alcohol. The juice is removed from the fermenter and placed in French Oak barrels. This is done gently, no heavy “pump overs.” We are attempting to limit the crushing of the pips. In this way we keep the tannins under control. High volume wineries do not enjoy this luxury. The juice spends two years in barrel and at least two years in glass before we release the wine for sale. This again is another luxury that a small privately owned winery enjoys. We do not have accountants pushing us to get the wine to market because of cash flow. The resulting product is a well aged wine with lowish alcohol and moderate tannins that can be drunk with a meal or put aside for some future special occasion.
- French Oak
- 2 years
- Composition
- 7% Cabernet Franc, 93% Cabernet Sauvignon
- Alcohol
- 13.9%
About the Winery
In the mountains just east of the town of Napa is the coolest growing area of the Napa region, Wild Horse Valley. Here, nestled just below the ridgeline at 1200 feet elevation, is Heron Lake Vineyard and Winery, and the home of Olivia Brion wines.
History: Heron Lake Vineyard is in the south end of Wild Horse Valley, 1,200 feet higher than the Napa Valley floor and five miles east of Napa town. Wild horses frolicked in the cool climate of Wild Horse Valley in the 19th century, but since then the area has been the home of a gentler breed: grape growers. Grapes were first grown there by Joseph Volpe and Constantino Malandrino, who planted in the 1880’s.
Today, the 3,300-acre valley has just 70 acres of vines in three vineyard operations. Wild Horse Valley is a distinct viticultural appellation: while Napa Valley has hot summer afternoons, Wild Horse’s proximity to the San Pablo and Suisun bays exposes it to cool westerly winds. That weather, along with the rocky volcanic soil, results in small yields and fruit of great color, intensity and minerality.
About The Winemaker:
From the Winemaker, By David Mahaffey – I have been making wines in the Napa Valley for 30 years, and have been the winemaker for Heron Lake since its first vintage. My primary goals are to create wines that are balanced, elegant and age beautifully. I think of myself as a craftsman with occasional lucky intuitional leaps into something like art.
Besides being a craftsman in wine, I’m an accomplished woodworker–canoes, guitars, turned bowls and a houseful of furniture. I taught winemaking for a decade at Napa Valley College, regularly lecture about the world of wine, and consult on a variety of wine making projects. I’m the co-inventor and developer of an “ozone for sanitation” system that’s now used by over 700 wineries to save water and avoid harsh chemicals.