2009 St. Helena Rennie Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Fact Sheet

Winemaker Notes

   

After thirty years of farming, experimenting, and studying this three-acre block on the Flora Springs Estate in the southwest corner of the St. Helena appellation, we can finally sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor. With a precision watering and stress regimen in place, perfectly matched clone to soil selection, and proper row orientation, this block is arguably the best of our 650 acres of vineyard. We simply call it Block C.

Historically, the hand picked fruit from Block C has been an integral component of Trilogy. However, in 1997, the Komes and Garvey family selected this lot for Flora Springs’ 20th Anniversary wine. Unanimously celebrated, the Cabernet Sauvignon from Block C represents one of the greatest wines we have ever released. We now use a percentage of this fruit each year to make our St. Helena Rennie Reserve.

This wine is reminiscent of a fine Bordeaux—exhibiting characteristics of earth, mushroom and granite blended with savory notes of pomegranate, raspberry, sage and thyme. The full bodied tannins add complexity and a long, lingering finish.

On the Vine

The Flora Springs Estate vineyards are unique in the Napa Valley winemaking landscape. The boundary between the St. Helena and Rutherford appellations runs through the middle of the Flora Springs property—along the creek on the valley floor and up through the hillside of the renowned Rutherford Bench at the base of the Mayacamas, thus providing the opportunity to produce two appellation-specific wines from the same estate. The 2009 St. Helena Rennie Reserve Cabernet, named for the founders of our historic winery in 1885, is made from Block C on the valley floor, at the southern-most edge of the St. Helena appellation.