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Wine Description
The Story
Ann Colgin’s wines stand out as one of the most refined styles of wines produced in Napa Valley. They show distinctive purity of the ripe black fruits, refined tannin structure and extremely elegant flavor profiles. This wine makes no exception. The hundred percent Cabernet Sauvignon from the Herb Lamb Vineyard, has been the hallmark wine of Colgin Cellars from its debut in 1992.
In early 1990s, Ann made a long-term contract with the vineyard owners, Jennifer and Herb Lamb, that she had an exclusive access
to the top vine rows of this small, 7.4 acre, vineyard lying on an elevation of 600 to 800 feet on well-drained rocky soils of St Helena.
In hands of the legendary Napa Valley winemaker Helen Turley, who was winemaker for Colgin Cellars 1992-1999,these terroir-driven grapes were transformed into a wine that
caught the eye of the powerful critics and Colgin’s fame as one of the top-rated producers was written.
“Our winemaking philosophy has always been to express the true character of each unique vineyard site”, Ann Colgin explains.
The grapes are harvested during the night and go through three sortings,starting in the vineyards. The final sort takes place in the
winery, where 15 people will do the final grape by grape sorting before crushing the grapes. Moving the grapes, juice or wine is
done by gravity. The barrels, tanks and vinification equipment,along with the basket presses, are of the highest quality. Only the
finest neo-classical winemaking methods are used in concert with small yields, gentle handling, attentive sorting and meticulous
blending to capture the distinctive terroir characteristics of each Colgin wine.
We blend talent with terroir, tradition with technology and passion with precision to create wines with distinctive personalities
and a profound sense of place.” Ann Colgin sums up.
While the Herb Lamb Cabernet Sauvignon was for a long time thebenchmark wine of Colgin, the saga came to an end in 2007,which was the final vintage Colgin made this hailed wine. The declining health of the twenty-year-old vineyard made it difficult to continue to maintain the high quality level displayed in all of the other Colgin wines.
Wine Information
The 2004 vintage marks a new era in the Herb Lamb Vineyard for Colgin Cellars. By retraining the vine canopy and significantly reducing our yields to historically low levels, we were able to produce a Herb Lamb Cabernet with incredible intensity. This is Herb Lamb to the power of 10. The fruit was fermented with indigenous yeast and macerated for a total of 42 days, giving us a deeply extracted wine. After aging in all new French oak barrels in our cold barrel chais, the freshness of this wine was perfectly preserved as we bottled it without fining or filtration in March 2006.
"A richly organic nose of earth, cracked pepper and forest floor pervade the senses as lush fruit aromas of plum and ripe cherries breath in and out of the wine. On the palate this cabernet explodes with sweet, chalky layers of tannin. Because of the northeast facing slopes where they reside, the limited sun exposure allows the vines to produce fruit with true "vin de garde," or "wine to age," tannins. Upon release, the Herb Lamb Cabernet will be a mere baby in the scheme of its life, so I am recommending a minimum additional cellar aging of 5 years before opening, and given its history, the wine will continue to soften as it ages gracefully over the next 15 to 25 years, if you can bear to keep it unopened for such time."