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Wine Description
The Story
This gently sloping site is relatively cool, and is protected from the intensity of the late afternoon heat during the height of the growing season. The gravelly loam soils provide excellent drainage and wonderful fruit purity. Helms Vineyard Cabernet displays the classic profile of the Rutherford Bench: dark fruit, richly layered with a touch of spice and earth. The finely grained “dusty” tannins so prevalent in the appellation are integrated and harmonious, producing a wine of sophistication and depth.
Dana's commitment to converting our vineyards to dry-farming continues to show positive results. Dry farming encourages the roots to dig deep for water, and increases their ability to with stand heat events. As a result the vines produce wines that are more vibrant and representative of the terroir. The even temperatures over the summer and fall ripened the vineyard evenly, allowing the team to harvest all of Helms in only two days. They started with the clone 337 on October 9th. The SEE clone in front of the winery was picked the next day on October 10th. Both picks were fermented in upright oak tanks. The fruit was macerated for 35 days. After native yeast fermentation the wines were pressed directly to barrel, where native malolactic fermentation took place.
Wine Information
Dana Estate is owned by South Korean winelover, Mr. Hi Sang Lee, who
first fell in love with wine more than 40 years ago, when he lived in New York City. In the early 1990s he founded Nara Cellar, a wine importing business in South Korea. In 2006 he opened Podo Plaza, a cutting edge food and wine center in Seoul that contains a wine bar, retail store, wine academy (WSET) and cooking school (Japanese Culinary Institute).
Through his import business, Mr. Lee has been responsible for bringing the world’s most sought-after luxury wines to the Korean market, including Harlan, Shafer and Colgin, and has increased awareness and appreciation for world-class wines in his home country.
The import business has brought Lee to the Napa Valley regularly for more than ten years, allowing him to develop an understanding of luxury wine production and form close relationships with the people whose wine he imports. These relationships were integral in bringing his dream of creating his own wine brand to fruition: Lee was able to acquire coveted vineyard land, as well as gain access to some of the most talented people in the industry. Mr. Lee purchased the Helms Vineyard and the winery in 2005. The winery is listed as one of the “ghost wineries” of the Napa Valley and was originally built by H.W. Helms, a German vintner in1883. The purchase of Hershey and Lotus vineyards took place in 2006.